Gender Roles In ! Kung Children

These women may have an advantage staying with their families instead of marrying. Behavior of children living in the hunter-gatherer groups did not have much deviation between their genders. Children usually are not expected to learn their roles until much later when they are almost teenagers. Girls are generally the first to take on tasks because their mother’s usually want the extra assistance, and they will soon be expected to take on the responsibilities of her role in the !Kung group. Girls, however, are not expected to help out with younger children such as infants and toddlers because their mothers often take these young children with them when gathering. Boys are often begin to learn their roles much later that girls but are eventually taught by
other !Kung males. Children are excused from tasks early on that involving hunting and gathering because of the type of work that they entail.
The area in which they live may have rough terrain and is often dry. Bringing younger children along on hunting and gathering endeavors may burden adults working to search for animals and plants. Bringing children will require them to bring extra water, and they may also grow tired from the journey taken on trips of hunting and gathering. With the potential to slow down hunting and gathering efforts, !Kung children are left at camp with other adults that are not venturing out. !Kung children living at a more permanent home have greater expectations of assisting with tasks and chores. There is more of difference between the behaviors of male and female children living in a permanent settlement. Children in a permanent village do have considerable spare time similar to those in hunter-gatherer communities but do have more rigid gender roles. Boys are expected to tend to livestock and take part in herding which will usually take them away from their village. This experience can account for their knowledge of other languages such as the Bantu language and having more interaction with other groups that girls do. Girls do not often leave the villages or have job expectations that have them care for
livestock. Instead, girls stay at camp assisting women with chores and collecting water.