Gender Socialization
muscles
Growing up, my parents channeled us to gender specific clothes, appearance and colors. The boy's hair cut was short and the girl's hair grew longer but manageable. My mom bought my sister and I barbies and pink floral dresses. My brothers got toy cars and cars that were their size, so they could drive them around the house or outside; she dressed them in blues,reds and greens with their favorite Power Rangers. Now that we are older, my brothers wear darker colors, have short hair cuts, are concerned with their muscle mass. My sister and I have purses, are hair needs to be perfect and long, wear make-up to enhance our beauty, and our wardwobe consists of various patterns and colors; at times, we wear basketball shorts and a t-shirt, with a pony tail, but we try to keep it somewhat girly.
My parents had their own way of manipulating their physical treatment towards us. My mom would snuggle with all of us, and my dad calls my sister and I his princesses, while he called my brothers his little animals and would start to wrestle with them or teach them to how to defend themselves. To this day, my dad tries to provoke my brothers because they have more muscle now and wants to test their skills. Also, their punishments were less harsh on the girls than on the boys. All of us have always received hugs and kisses, mostly from my mom; now my dad gives them just as frequently as my mom.
We were exposed to more gender specific activities at a young age, then as we got older the activities we were exposed to were not as gender specific. All of us had chores, in our early teens our chores would be divided: the boys had to take out the trash, mow the lawn, pull weeds, and vacuumed; the girls washed the dishes, folded laundry, and dusted. As we got later in our teens, all of us rotate all the chores; my parents wanted to teach us how to do everything around the house. All of us eventually did our own laundry and took care of most of the chores, so my mom could cook; we assisted in the cooking too! We all played sports in elementary, jr. high, and high school: the girls in volleyball and basketball and the boys in track, soccer, cross-country, and football. If we went on hikes or trips my brothers would always take the lead, while my sister and I complained to them that they were going to fast! They would wait until we caught up, then leave within 5 seconds of us meeting up with them.
The type of verbal apellation we were given growing up and still have are not only our names but nicknames. My brothers names are Jorge Noel and Nicholas Jesus; they had nicknames like: little animals, little man, little guy, warrior and the guys. My sister and I are named, Maria Belén (Maria is Spanish for Mary and Belén is Spanish for Bethlehem, both names are very common girl names in Mexico) and Zochil Ivory (Zochil is the name of an Aztec princess); we had nicknames like: little princess, little apple, little flower, darlings and beautiful.
My parents had their own way of manipulating their physical treatment towards us. My mom would snuggle with all of us, and my dad calls my sister and I his princesses, while he called my brothers his little animals and would start to wrestle with them or teach them to how to defend themselves. To this day, my dad tries to provoke my brothers because they have more muscle now and wants to test their skills. Also, their punishments were less harsh on the girls than on the boys. All of us have always received hugs and kisses, mostly from my mom; now my dad gives them just as frequently as my mom.
We were exposed to more gender specific activities at a young age, then as we got older the activities we were exposed to were not as gender specific. All of us had chores, in our early teens our chores would be divided: the boys had to take out the trash, mow the lawn, pull weeds, and vacuumed; the girls washed the dishes, folded laundry, and dusted. As we got later in our teens, all of us rotate all the chores; my parents wanted to teach us how to do everything around the house. All of us eventually did our own laundry and took care of most of the chores, so my mom could cook; we assisted in the cooking too! We all played sports in elementary, jr. high, and high school: the girls in volleyball and basketball and the boys in track, soccer, cross-country, and football. If we went on hikes or trips my brothers would always take the lead, while my sister and I complained to them that they were going to fast! They would wait until we caught up, then leave within 5 seconds of us meeting up with them.
The type of verbal apellation we were given growing up and still have are not only our names but nicknames. My brothers names are Jorge Noel and Nicholas Jesus; they had nicknames like: little animals, little man, little guy, warrior and the guys. My sister and I are named, Maria Belén (Maria is Spanish for Mary and Belén is Spanish for Bethlehem, both names are very common girl names in Mexico) and Zochil Ivory (Zochil is the name of an Aztec princess); we had nicknames like: little princess, little apple, little flower, darlings and beautiful.
