What Are Gender Roles In Boy Culture

The culture and norms existing during a specific time period represent how people expressed their beliefs, traditions and governance for themselves and those who share the same geographic area. As these elements change over time, they establish the social construct of the given society, shaping the roles, expectations and social order of the population. The early to mid-nineteenth century brought a great deal of social change, most notably the Civil War and the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. One element of daily life that remained stable during this time period was the structure of the family hierarchy. Patrias potestas, the power of the father, or patriarchal dominance, remained prevalent within most households (Lavisano, Justice for Children, September 22 slides) as it had for many prior generations in Europe.

The Family

This patriarch structure included specific gender roles within the family.

For the children of these families, particular behavior within the household was expected, encouraged, and valued. In her chapter The Politics of Dollhood in Nineteenth-Century America, Miriam Forman-Brunell examines the role of doll play in respect to the development of girl culture during the early to mid-nineteenth century. Anthony Rotundo provides a similar assessment of boy culture during this same time period in Boy Culture. Both authors assess primary and secondary literary sources to examine the play habits and practices of boys and girls. Compared, these two accounts provide support to the belief that the gender play exhibited by these children separated boys and girls into two distinct spheres, of domesticity and service, versus public employment and

dominance.
Children’s Play: The purpose of play
To fully appreciate the influence of gender imposed upon play an examination Forman-Brunell and Rutondo’s work is considered. Both authors exam play as an expression of the child’s agency. Forman-Brunell through her analysis of doll play and development of girl culture, Rutondo by way of considering the formation and purpose of boy culture. In the lives of girls, play was purposeful; “urged toward usefulness in their play as natural training in the republican values they would need as future wives and mothers…” (p. 223). “Adults expected girls to imitate the new rituals of high society (p. 229) socially accepted practices and norms were acted-out with the use of dolls, and adult-like play resembled behaviors most girls observed of their mothers and dominant female figures within their lives. Boys were also encouraged to use play as a means of acquiring and mastering skills, different though, as they were expected to learn from the meaning of their play as opposed to only mastery acquired through repetitive play behaviors. Although boys play is often looked upon as barbaric, wild, and untamed, boys were actually learning how to compete, gain support from and build relationships with other, all considered important since men, not women, were required in the work-world of the industrial revolution. When boys completed their transition through boyhood, they were men and therefore, expected to be prepared for the needs of industry and the demands of society.
Children’s Play: Space and Place
The physical and geographic setting of where boys and girls experienced play is a key factor when attempting to interpret the meaning of their play. Girl play was positioned mostly within the setting of the home, within the family, observed by their mother’s and/or as directed by fathers. Their mobility was mostly restricted and limited to those activities associated with chores and duties or socially acceptable behaviors becoming of a middle-class female. Girls play was often removed from nature, most often occurring under the supervision of parents, specifically mothers. Girls often played with a toy, not with nature or in a natural setting.
Contradictory to how girls played, boys were allowed broader freedom and mobility. They played close to nature, in part and with nature. Even when engaging in adult play like behaviors such as hunting or fishing, boys were free to express masculinity within natural settings. “Boys also enjoyed imitating the work of admired men, such as their fathers through play (p. 342). This imitation was not intended for the purpose of learning or obtaining skill, but more so as interest. Although some boys enjoyed play with dolls, the majority of boys experienced play with other boys, grouped together as a gang or club of boys, establishing rule and norms, social order and acceptance, based on the value and interests they shared.
Children’s Play: Family time and play time
As mentioned, girls play was seen as positioned within the family. It existed mostly within the realm of the home or homes of others. As a result, time for play is limited to completion of chores or availability of others. Forman-Brunel notes that familial presence impacted a number of choices or practices girls engaged in. She notes that research at the time indicated some girls showed preference for black dolls over white dolls, speaking to the higher prevalence of nannies with within the homes of the middle-class responsible for the care of the young girls (p. 225). Some boys may have sought the friendship of other boys as a means of addressing the absence of fathers, vacant in the home as a result of working within industrialized settings.