To What Extent Is Parenting Influenced by Gender Roles?

Who Does What

• In the traditional family model, the father goes out and works while the mother stays home and takes care of the kids. Many families still fit this description, but many do not. In families where both partners work, traditional assumptions about gender roles can still have an effect. Often, the mother is still more responsible for housework and childcare despite the fact that she also works. The father may have a larger role in providing structure and discipline, as in the classic warning "Wait till your father gets home!".

Playtime

• Moms and dads often have different play styles and may also play differently with boys than with girls. A 2001 study published in "Sex Roles: A Journal of Research" found that fathers usually played more physical games with their kids while mothers played more make-believe games. Both moms and dads tended to play more physical games with boys and more make-believe games with girls, who then went on to do the same thing when playing with other kids. This suggests that parenting styles influence how children perceive gender roles.

Changes

• As the patterns of family life change, the effects of gender on parenting are also changing. According to a study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development cited in "The Atlantic," 25 percent of all children in the U.S. are being raised in single parent households. In many homes, the mother now works outside the home but the father does not. The number of households headed by two parent of the same sex is also increasing. In households where both the mother and the father work outside of the home, a Pew Research Center report found that parental roles are becoming more similar as more women work and more men take on childcare responsibilities. With so many households no longer fitting the traditional model, it's impossible to maintain traditional gender roles unchanged in many families.

Effects

• Although traditionalists might worry about the effect that changing gender roles and parental responsibilities will have on children, the "Atlantic" article quoted a Seattle family therapist named Mary Carter-Creech who feels that children don't really care which parent is in charge of which roles in the household. According to Carter-Creech, children need their parents to provide them with a nurturing, stable, supportive environment to grow up in. Gender roles in parenting have more to do with cultural tradition than with what kids actually need.