The Progressive Era From 1890-1920's

The Progressive Era from 1890-1920. In this period, there came a rise of or emphasis on science experts, especially for child-rearing experts, like doctors and psychiatrists. They made specific scientific childrearing guides, like regimented schedules, and discovered the distinct phases of childhood. In the Progressive Era, societal expectations and assumptions about boys and girls were shaped by the adults’ fears of feminization, sexuality, and perceived threats to the traditional gender roles, which lead to distinct and strict gender norms that perpetuated masculine ideals for boys and ones of domestic femininity for girls, with little to no commonalities between the two. In this paragraph I will convince my reader that the adults of the Progressive Era were fearful of both genders of children, but for different
For example, they disapproved of girls playing with boys' toys, such as construction sets and miniature vehicles, which were seen as preparing boys for careers in science and business. This fear was rooted in the belief that girls should be raised to be nurturing mothers and homemakers, and that any deviation from these roles was unacceptable. This can be seen even in the makers and manufacturers of toys at the time, Chudacoff mentions that “even though many girls played with their brothers’ toys, and some boys liked to play with dolls, toy makers and adult consumers overlooked exceptions to their shared definitions of sex roles.” *117 Chudacoff NEEDS CITATION* The adults and manufacturers ignored these expectations in favor of the gender roles that they wanted to promote with these toys. The adult’s fears for the children of the progressive era were very real. It can be seen in the expectations of boys and girls, in their toys, and in how society treats