The Gender Trap (Paperback)

Emily W. Kane

ISBN 10: 0814737838 / ISBN 13: 9780814737835

Published by New York University Press, New York, 2012

About this Item

Paperback. A detailed account of how gender is learned and unlearned in the home From the selection of toys, clothes, and activities to styles of play and emotional expression, the family is ground zero for where children learn about gender. Despite recent awareness that girls are not too fragile to play sports and that boys can benefit from learning to cook, we still find ourselves surrounded by limited gender expectations and persistent gender inequalities. Through the lively and engaging stories of parents from a wide range of backgrounds, The Gender Trap provides a detailed account of how today's parents understand, enforce, and resist the gendering of their children. Emily Kane shows how most parents make efforts to loosen gendered constraints for their children, while also engaging in a variety of behaviors that reproduce traditionally gendered childhoods, ultimately arguing that conventional gender expectations are deeply entrenched and that there is great tension in attempting to undo them while letting 'boys be boys' and 'girls be girls.' From the selection of toys, clothes, and activities to styles of play and emotional expression, the family is ground zero for where children learn about gender. This book provides an account of how today's parents understand, enforce, and resist the gendering of their children. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9780814737835

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Gender Trap (Paperback)
• Publisher: New York University Press, New York
• Publication Date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0814737838
• ISBN 13: 9780814737835
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

A detailed account of how gender is learned and unlearned in the home

From the selection of toys, clothes, and activities to styles of play and emotional expression, the family is ground zero for where children learn about gender. Despite recent awareness that girls are not too fragile to play sports and that boys can benefit from learning to cook, we still find ourselves surrounded by limited gender expectations and persistent gender inequalities. Through the lively and engaging stories of parents from a wide range of backgrounds, The Gender Trap provides a detailed account of how today’s parents understand, enforce, and resist the gendering of their children. Emily Kane shows how most parents make efforts to loosen gendered constraints for their children, while also engaging in a variety of behaviors that reproduce traditionally gendered childhoods, ultimately arguing that conventional gender expectations are deeply entrenched and that there is great tension in attempting to undo them while letting 'boys be boys' and 'girls be girls.'

About the Author

Emily W. Kane is Professor of Sociology, and a member of the Program in Women and Gender Studies, at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.