Gender Identity Development

Gender Identity Development Gender identity is so important in the developmental stages of children. Gender identity development in children crosses physical, emotional, social, and cognitive barriers. Most people believe that gender identity is not an issue until the children hit puberty. However, children develop gender identities starting as young as infancy. Psychologists’ research has shown that there are three stages to child gender identity recognition. The first stage begins to develop in preschool ages around three and four years of age. In this stage, children can tell the difference between boys and girls and will label everyone including themselves accordingly. But in this stage they do not believe that genders are permanent. They believe that genders can change. For example, a girl could think she was a boy if she played with boy toys and cuts her hair short. The second stage usually occurs around the ages of six and seven. In this stage, children begin to realize that their genders are consistent and they will remain that gender throughout their childhood and on through adulthood. In the final stage, children become aware of gender related behaviors and activities. Girls and boys also develop differently. Girls usually tend to play with stuffed animals and dolls, while also playing with either 1 or 2 friends or a small group. Boys, however, tend to play with action figures and balls, while also playing in a large group. Children also see the jobs and roles their parents take on in the household. A child may see their mother cooking more while their father fixes more things around the house. Gender identity is an ever changing dimension, gender roles have changed tremendously in the last fifty or sixty years.
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