The Social Construction of Gender & Baby X

who are these people? why anyone do experiments on there children i find that just stupid maybee they need to be the ones going through the experiments. How you bring your kids up and how you teach them is going to have a hudge affect on how they turn out, and also what goes on in there surrounding plays and affect to we dont need to be doign experiments on kids.

I want to start out by saying that i dont believe that society does not expect men to do as much as women in raising children. As on the bus i believe it is common for people who do see a mna with his child to applaud him. Women should be appauded more because in todays society women still take care of the children more but also have to work for the family to make it in the economy so the women have two juobs in the family. I am not positive that most men dont help out but in my experiences this is what i have seen. I would have to say that i did not agree with the experiment of Baby X. I am not saying that it was completely wrong to do that in the beginning when Baby X was first born to see what would happen but to have the child not know who X was when X was older seems wrong and to call Baby X an it seems demeaning.

I agree as well that the experiment was unethical and should not have gone as far as it had. There is a fine, but distinct line in science that defines how far a scientist can go with human subjects, and they definately crossed the line. This baby will probably have problems with society around her for the rest of its life.

I feel that the experiment was critical to show how our society approaches gender. However, there are hundreds of experiments that would be very beneficial to us but are totally unethical; I believe that this is one of those experiments. I think that the experiment could have been conducted while the baby was still too young to realize what is going on around it but as soon as the child could begin to interact with other people the experiment should have been stopped immediately. That child may never have a normal social life because of what happened and that is totally unacceptable and the fault of the parents.

I too felt that experimenting with your child is wrong, and could lead to way more confusion than the child should have to go through. It's already hard growing up with society teaching how you should act and what is expected of you because of your gender. I think baby X experiment was for good intentions but i still think it's wrong because not everybody is going to except those kind of changes.

When I wrote this discussion blog, I wanted so badly to put down my true feelings on the Baby X article, but I was even more curious about how others felt. Especially those that do not have children and might be more apt to side with the experiment for the sake of “knowing” the differences that cropped up with this non-gender child. I found the article to be extremely disturbing and I’m not sure that it was completely factual, I sure as heck hope not. Nothing in the article seemed right to me, I feel the whole “genderless” child idea was taken completely out of context.
I was appalled right from the beginning when the article explained that a women sitting near the sandbox called X a “b-r-a-t” because ‘it’ explained that ‘it’ was an X and not a boy or a girl (see ~it’s even hard to write about!). What person would actually do that!? If it was me and a little one said that I would laugh and say “oh really”? I surely wouldn’t call the child a brat! The fact that people wouldn’t even buy a baby gift for the child seemed a little off too. We often buy baby shower gifts prior to the arrival of the baby and even when we have no idea whether the baby IS in fact a boy or a girl, so why the ordeal with gift buying for X?
Also, while reading the article, I found myself thinking about how hard it is to be a kid today with all the stereotypes that already exist and for parents to actually subject their child to this type of experiment was ridiculous. I agree with the post from failurebydesign, that as long as parents expose their children to different types of “girl” and “boy” toys, they will be just fine. Also, expose children to different types of household chores. Boys can do laundry and clean, just as girls can mow the grass (single moms do it all, right?).
I think that as long as parents are open about gender with their children and let them make their own choices, than the gender stereotyping with eventually become a non-existent issue.
As far as Baby X, I can see years upon years of serious therapy in that child’s future!

I don't think that men are not expected as much, I just think that men are looked upon more likely now to take care of their child. I think it's actually a good thing because men are almost expected to be loving now and that's good. I think that both men and women are the ones making judgements. They may judge differently but they both judge. I don't really know what women can do, but I feel that men being accepted to take of kids is a good thing because I take it as men being "awed" at when they act "feminine." I think that most women are paid less than men at the workplace because the highest person is usually a white man, and they view men as being superior so they vie the men's work as "better." I felt the experiment was wrong because sex is a real thing, and for parents to sonfuse their child I feel is just wrong. I know they didn't want to generalize their child, but still I think their child delt with more issues then they thought. I did like the outcome however when the other children accepted "X" and started acting like it, that was cool. But still, I don't agree with "experimenting" with children.

OK, the whole baby x thing kind of upsets me. No, it really upsets me. Who in their right mind has a child to practice experiments on/with? I understand they did not want their child to have society's imposing of gender on baby X, but I think they took it to an extreme. Luckily there was a fair outcome although many questions arose during the process. But I think there are a number of other ways to socialize your child and enhance their personal likes without having it be gender specific. Providing your child with a number of toys; trucks, dolls, footballs, building blocks, paints, kitchen sets, etc. Give them options. I feel that when society molds us into a gender specification we are limiting our opportunities for so much. There is so much out there we're not exposed to because its not girly or boyish. If you really want to overcome this give your child options. Media impact? Hello! You are the parent, you control what media your child comes into contact with. Again with the options, show them media of movies, magazines, etc with both boys and girls as the primary roles. Search these things out. they are out there. Yes this is something that takes a lot of time. But children take a lot of time, dont have them unless youre ready for that. (with some exceptions).

Our society tends to go with what everyone else does. We see this on television, magazines, and in our everyday lives. We walk around often judging ourselves based on what others look and act like. This is something that we cannot help; it's something that humans naturally do. When people (especially women in my opinion) see a man taking care of children they immediately become respectful of that man. The reason behind this is due to the masculinity as discussed in WVFV on page 118. Men are associated with sexuality and violence, whereas women are thought of as delicate and nurturing (page 121). When people in society see a man doing a "women’s" job they automatically think differently and create a stereotype (pos/neg) on that person. I don't think that women need to fight for equality when it comes to a man taking care of his child. There are so many other things that women should be fighting for, like equality in the workplace. A man taking care of his child is a great thing, especially when he could be doing it while mom is out getting a good job.
Today women make less than men because of history and how women were treated in the past. The past ultimately has an effect on the future and when we see women being treated differently, I think its party due to the past. After reading the baby X story I had mixed feelings on the matter. I thought it was a good thing because it showed that no matter what sex you are, you can be accepted into your peers no matter what. The thing that I did not like was the fact that they put their child through such a rough childhood. From the very beginning they called there baby X. I cannot imagine growing up like that, going to school everyday and having to live like that.

The fact that women carry and nuture the child for 9 months before the father can have any sort of real interaction I think slightly places the ball in the woman's court. However, that does not mean that men cannot be good at parenting. I blame stereotypes. Men are dogs. Men are insensitive, not understanding...and so on and so on. We are all familiar with the certain stereotypes that each gender carries. Since men typically are the 'bachelors' and the 'playboys' they are immediately written off as not fit to be taking care of their children. This of course is not the case, but there are many 'illusions' that make it seem like men are not capable of womanly tasks. For example, male elementary teachers are few and far between. The job of teaching and molding young children is often thought of as a woman's job, not because men can't do it, but because there just are not a lot of men doing it. I do not think that any one sex in particular make these type of judgements, I think they are just assumed by all.

I find that in dealing with child rearing the term "stay at home dad" seems ridiculous to most, even a bit embarassing for one to admit. Not only that, but the term "working mom" can be ridiculous to many too. I come from an area where not many moms work. The moms drive an SUV, or any other large vechicle that they simply cannot handle but insist upon driving, around town picking up and dropping their kids off at the various sports and activities their parents have so willingly signed them up for, whether they have an interest in that activity or not. Uh, I guess that is a "stay at home mom"...!?!! And yet, the mom never seems to be home exactly...playing tennis at the country club maybe, having lunch with friends, shopping...but never really just doing traditional house-hold things. Cleaning crews come in to clean, laundry is sent out... (unfortunately, all though not every mom, but most moms in my area actually are like this...ew.) I think the expectations of parenting have changed drastically. I am very lucky to have two amazing parents who are very active and involved in the lives of their 4 children. My dad works the standard 9-5 situation, but is always involved in our daily lives. My mom decided to work again when my younger brother turned 10 maybe...but she is still home to make dinner at night and help with homework and go to sports games and all that. That is how I envision family dynamics. But that is just me being naive.

What I am trying to get at here is a response to the question, "Is this because society does not expect as much out of men as it does women, when it comes to child rearing?". I think it is getting to the point where society does not expect much from either. I think there is still the longing for the stay at home mom image, but it isn't expected anymore.

I too have noticed that men are begining to come foward and take more responsibility if not all for their children. You have the single mother homes as well as the growing number of single father homes. Society has the history of placing men as the breadmakers and women as the homemakers. Today we have different variations of these binaries. We have women as both the money makers and homemakers.Men as both the money makers and the homemakers. There are still women who have maintianed their staus as simply homemaker and their husbands provide for the family. And the last is a mixture of all of these things were no parent has an assigned designated job because they both do it all for their family. As our society grows to adapt to changing situations it must also bend and flex gender roles to fit the mold of those changes. Gender roles can at times seem pointless and i beleive people who still believe they should remain in the raising of our children and the foundations of our homes may not be so accepting to fighting the war agaisnt gender inequality. Women can join together and fight but when there are women who still feel and and live their lives limited to what they are conditioned to believe is "right" than we only have half the soldiers fighting. Maybe the men that have come to the plate as mothers and fathers for their children can help fight the battle against gender inequality because they are too placed now outside the norms of gender roles. Who says a man can't do a woman's job? Who says a woman can't do a man's?

When it come to the Social Construction of Gender I feel that both men and women are doing it. However, I feel that it is engrained in the female ideology from birth that males are more than women will ever be. I think this idea comes from the male-emphasized world that we live it. It's still controlled by white males who enjoy the rights and priviledges that they came in to. I do not feel that most of these men in fact earned them but came along at the right place/right time and until our ideology is changed I don't feel that anything will change. Women will continue to earn a fraction of the dollar to men until changes are made. Do I feel that men and women will ever be equally paid? I don't know. I would like to hope so and that my out look as a female provider for my family one day will be as sufficient as my husbands but I can not rely on that. Women are forced to work harder than males to receive the fraction that we do. It all comes down to ideology in that we have this vision that is fixed. There are females out there trying to do this but everytime it seems that something else pops up (race/class/ethnic representation issues) before much is accomplished. In order to get anything done, we must come together as a whole but how exactly do you get that ball rolling?

As for the father taking care of his children, we have this mind set that women are to care for a child and it's refreshing to see a father want to be with his child. I have respect for both males who take on female roles and females who challenge the gendered roles and try to do what they feel is right. Why are men more accepted for taking on "female roles" than women for attempting the opposite? Men and women are judged differently by the opposite sex. Women see men doing such things as caring and compassionate where as men see women as a threat to their male security. "If this dependant, fragile thing can do this then I should be able to accomplish tasks much more difficult or task oriented." We are challenging their "manhood" and that is not something they are used to dealing with...

It's taken 30 years to bring the salary equity that we have today to the point it is. What is it going to close the chasm even more? More time, I'm afraid.

I did a quick Google search on gender salary equity and found an interesting link. I learned that each year, women are making progress in closing the salary gap. Is the gender gap closing? As you note, steady progress is being made, but it takes time.

The web site points out something we might tend to forget ... men's salaries don't stand still and wait for those of women to catch up. Also, graphs on the site point out that increases for men and women are closely paralleling each other, so women aren't seeing big jumps to catch up more quickly. Who would have thought that economic issues would tie into feminism ... but the ties between social sciences, economics, business logistics, political sciences are interwoven.

Long way around, I guess, but what I'm saying we need is ... sigh, more time.

I have noticed from personal experience that an increasing number of men are participating in raising children. It is becoming common for men to be seen out with their children. I think it is a wonderful thing. Society is accepting it more. For example, men are now allowed to take leave of absences if their partner is having a child. Men are allowed to be in the delivery room and part of the birth. I have a 15 month old daughter and I can honestly say that her Dad changes more diapers then I do. Also, a while back I got a job that I enjoyed and since we are both students and find it hard for both of us to hold jobs during the semesters he had no problem staying home and caring for her. I am glad that society is becoming more approving of such shifts in roles (no matter how small). I think both men and women make judgments, but I don't think that people are dumb struck that a father is taking care of his child, but rather enjoying the sight. I believe it is much more common for Fathers to be involved with parenting, but I also know that the roles in parenting are not yet equal.

In response to men receiving more admiration for taking care of children than women, is that both genders have decided what is acceptable. Through learned behavior and fear of a social stigma men and women tend to fulfill the roles that our society deems necessary of its genders. When a man is taking care of a baby, many people may not think that he is the primary caretaker of the child. Because of bias they may assume he is watching the child while the mom is out or sick. When a woman is watching a baby, the assumption is that the man is at work and the woman is doing what is common and natural within our society. Both of these assumptions will be made by both genders, and this is because of what we, as a society, are used to and expect out of our genders. This assignment of genders ties in somewhat with Coordinated Management of meaning (CMM) where a society or group determines meanings and values to all means of communication. Between a man and woman holding a baby very different things are communicated, yet they are interpreted the same way based on the meanings and values our society has placed upon them.