Positive And Negative Effects Of Sex-Typed Toys

Many of the expectations that came from my parents were contradictory to the norms expected of my gender. My father was only around for the first 10 years, but during those years he played a large role in what was communicated. One of the earliest Christmas memories I have was when I received a Baby Alive doll. She was great! She could eat, cry and mess her diaper. She came with a stroller and everything needed to take care her. It might have been the ultimate sex-typed toy for girls in its day. My dad, however hated the doll. He would make fun of the doll, and of me for playing with it. He did encourage me to shoot guns and go fishing. He even taught me how to build a bow to shoot arrows. That same Christmas I received my first pocket knife. I used it to make my arrows.
When my father helped me get ready for school in the mornings I would wear jeans and tee shirts.
Hence the Harley shirt I mentioned in another discussion. It was a good day if my hair was brushed. When my mom helped me get ready, I wore dresses and braids.
I guess my parents had two completely different views when it came to me. Page 154 of our textbook mentions the different types of influence parents may have. It states that parents often encourage sex-typed toys, and that only a small percent of parents would approve of cross-sex type toys, according to their children. As you can see, my father did not fall into either category. That made this assignment a little difficult because I had to really think hard about the unusual encouragement I
received.
My sister was born when I was 35 years old. Until then, I was an only child. When she was a toddler my father made comment about how girly she and I were. He believes that our “girliness” is completely natural, and he tries very hard this time around to make sure she has girly items. Although, occasionally, a bow and arrow set can still be found under the Christmas tree.