Children's Evaluations of Gender-Stereotypic Household Activities in the Family Context

Jimmy’s Baby Doll and Jenny’s Truck: Young Children’s Reasoning About Gender Norms

“…More research is needed to determine why the stories on classes were judged to be less influenced by gender norms, but one possible explanation is that children judge classes to have higher stakes, since they could affect future opportunities. Still, our findings are in line with research by Schuette and Killen (2010) showing that children often make judgments in line with gender norms, and that as they get older they are more likely to consider issues of fairness, especially when those considerations are made salient.…”

“…Previous research has shown that children use gender norms to make decisions when there is little other information but they are also increasingly aware of and concerned with gender equity. When Schuette and Killen (2010) probed children 5-10 years of age on stereotypic choices by suggesting that children who had not had a chance to try a stereotypical chore should be given the opportunity, the older children were more likely to show flexibility by endorsing the gender norm inconsistent child. The present study also obtained age differences.…”

“…This expectation is consistent with previous research using other methods. For instance, Schuette and Killen (2010) found that most children use stereotypes to decide whether a boy or a girl should participate in a gendered chore.…”

Housework time from middle childhood through adolescence: Links to parental work hours and youth adjustment.

“…Many household tasks, such as cooking and cleaning, are seen as “women’s work” and “training for girls” (Bowes & Goodnow, 1996). In fact, children as young as five express gender-stereotypical ideas about housework (Schuette & Killen, 2009). Across the life course, women and girls also perform more housework than do men and boys (Lachance-Grzela & Bouchard, 2010).…”

Vii. Gender in Low‐ and Middle‐income Countries: Reflections, Limitations, Directions, and Implications

“…By 4 months of age infants can distinguish female from males faces (Quin, Yahr, Kuhn, Slater, & Pascalis, 2002), and by 8 months of age infants already exhibit preferences for gender-typed toys (Alexander, Wilcox, & Woods, 2009). Children generally prefer gender-stereotyped clothes and being delegated with gender-stereotyped chores (Schuette & Killen, 2009). Child characteristics and parent influences interact to consolidate gender variation in children.…”