Forced gender roles

The environment is everything that affects the individual aside from genes. There are many potential environmental influences that help shape our personality. These include the place we live and the people around us. Our experiences in our day to day life, as well as the people whom we associated with such as our family, friends, people in the school, in the church and the community as a whole, all influence our personality. People physically born male and female are socialized differently to some extent in all societies. They receive different messages from their parents and other adults as to what is appropriate for them to do in life.^[1] The social construct of gender determines how they are treated during childhood and well into adulthood. They are encouraged to prepare for their future in jobs fitting their gender. Males are typically allowed more freedom to experiment and participate in physically risky activities. Females are encouraged to learn how to do domestic tasks and to participate in child rearing by baby-sitting. If children do not follow these traditional paths, they are often labeled as marginal or even deviant. Females may be called “tomboys” and males may be ridiculed for not being sufficiently masculine.

[P1] Childhood experiences with gender roles shape personality into adulthood.