Parents of adolescents bring their unique gender perspective to their roles as adults.
1. Alya Nasution, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia, Postdoctoral Researcher, Indonesia
The perception of gender and its impact on parenting within a family can vary among individuals, leading to various familial issues. This study aimed to evaluate parental gender perceptions and identify influencing factors. It focused on how grandparents raise their sons and daughters in the same household. Employing a descriptive qualitative research approach, participants included families with adolescent children, comprising both boys and girls. The study revealed that families in TretesTown lacked a comprehensive understanding of gender and sex distinctions, as they assigned roles and responsibilities based on biological sex. Parents used the approach of involving their children in their hobbies to teach and guide them.
socialization cultural norms upbringing distinctions sex biology masculinity femininity gender inequalities societal perspectives
A significant proportion of parents in Tretes Town demonstrated a limited comprehension of gender, as evidenced by their reinforcement of gendered divisions in both the workplace and the socialization of their teenage sons and daughters. Due to their personal experiences, fathers in Tretes Village traditionally assigned specific responsibilities to their adolescent boys and girls, indicating a lack of understanding concerning gender. Parents' distribution of tasks to teenage males and females varied based on their knowledge of how to divide the workload effectively. Thus, parents designated outdoor and physically demanding chores for adolescent boys, while indoor tasks were assigned to girls.
In Tretes Village, parents socialized their adolescent boys and girls by emphasizing their respective interests and responsibilities to foster an awareness of the distinctions between tasks performed by men and women. Parents in Tretes Village engaged their teenage boys and girls in household chores to impart knowledge about the unique roles associated with males and females. Parents held different expectations regarding their son's and daughters' behaviour and level of independence at this stage. Consequently, parents discouraged their children from exhibiting behaviours typically associated with the opposite gender. Furthermore, parents prevented teenage girls from participating in nocturnal activities alongside their male counterparts.
1. Baumrind, D. (1991). The influence of parenting style on adolescent substance use. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 11(1), 56-95.
The author confirms sole responsibility for the following: study conception and design, data collection, analysis and interpretation of results, and manuscript preparation.
The authors did not receive any specific grants from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or non-profit sectors for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
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All authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.
I thank the following individuals for their expertise and assistance in all aspects of our study and for their help in writing the manuscript. I am also grateful for the insightful comments given by anonymous peer reviewers. Everyone's generosity and expertise have improved this study in myriad ways and saved me from many errors.
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