Mother-Child Conversations about Gender

A monograph that looks at how mothers and young children talk about gender, to discover the potential role of language in fostering gender stereotypes.
This monograph provides the first in-depth look at how
mothers and young children talk about gender, to discover
the potential role of language in fostering gender stereotypes.
Mothers and their sons/daughters, who were 2-½,
4-½, or 6-½ years of age, were videotaped discussing a
picture book that focused on gender. A consistent contrast
was found between mothers’ explicit endorsement
of gender stereotypes and implicit emphasis on gender.
Although mothers rarely expressed gender stereotypes
directly, they emphasized gender concepts indirectly, by
referring to gender categories, providing gender labels,
contrasting males and females, and giving approval to
their children’s stereotyped statements. With increasing
age, children were more focused on gender categories
and stereotypes, but also more gender-egalitarian.
Gender-egalitarian items (e.g., a female firefighter) were
associated with less overt stereotyping, but also with more
implicit talk about gender. Altogether, mothers’ language
input conveys a wealth of subtle messages about gender
from which children may construct their own beliefs.

Contributor: Susan Gelman (Edited by), Marianne Taylor (Edited by), Simone Nguyen (Edited by)

UK Delivery:

• Free delivery on all orders of £10 or more.
• £1.49 delivery fee on orders below £10.
• UK orders are shipped via Royal Mail 2nd Class.

International Delivery:

• Flat rate delivery charges vary by country.

Dispatch and Delivery Times:

• All orders are shipped from our warehouse in Northampton, UK within 48 hours of receipt during working hours.
• UK mainland orders typically arrive within 3-5 working days via Royal Mail 2nd Class.
• International estimated delivery times:
• Europe & Channel Islands: 7 to 10 working days
• USA: 7 to 15 working days
• Rest of the World: 9 to 21 working days

View our full delivery infomation here.