1. Running head: GENDER ROLES 1
M4A2: Gender Roles
Christopher Ruper
Argosy University

2. GENDER ROLES 2
Abstract
“Recall your own teenage experience. Think about the days when you interacted with
other teenagers and played with them in a park or school. If you have teenaged children,
you could observe them interacting with other children of their age,” (Argosy University,
2011).

3. GENDER ROLES 3
Gender Roles
Do the boys and girls play together, or do they segregate into gender groups?
I recall from my early teenage experience that girls and boys were segregated most of the
time. Girls formed into girl groups and boys formed into boy groups. It was rare to see mixed
groups. When it was a mixed group it was not a 50/50 distribution of boy and girls; it was often a
90/10 distribution. In later teenage years the distribution of boys and girls became less dramatic.
Girls and boy would perform more activities together. Groups of friends were more diverse with
often an equal number of girl’s to boy’s ratio. I did play hockey for a private club team during
my teenage years and there was only one to two girls in the whole league. Girls that played
hockey were often goalies. As the years went by the clubs started to form all girl teams; they
rarely played side by side with the boys. More teenage girl’s hockey teams were available and I
remember playing scrimmage games against them.
Do boys and girls play the same or different types of games?
In my own experiences I witnessed many differences in the activities that girls and boys
did; they seemed to be more separated. As I mentioned before there was more boys that played
hockey than girls. Most teenage boys played competitive sports that required completion and
physical contact. When a girl’s team played it became a noncontact game so players would not
be able to engage in body contact. Boys also saw more movies with violence and adult content. I
witnessed girls doing more things that involved less physical contact and more mental oriented
activities; like drama club, cheerleading, dance, gossip, and saw movies that were non violent. A
common sport I saw girls playing was soccer which had minimal physical contact in its nature. It

4. GENDER ROLES 4
seemed to me that girls did more activities that included communication involved. Over the years
girls and boys seemed to do more things that included cooperation between girls and boys.
Which gender group prefers games in which there are clear winners and losers, such as
basketball, and which group prefers games in which there are no clear winners and losers, such
as hopscotch?
I witnessed more boys engaging in games that had definitive winners and losers. This
was because boys seemed to be more openly competitive than girls; and may have wanted to
stand out from one another as being “better”. Common games of this sort were sports, anything
involving a point system, or something that could include rankings. Girls engaged in more games
in which there were not any definitive winners. They did not appear to be as openly competitive
as the boys. The games girls played were things like hopscotch, jump-rope, singing, and dancing.
Another popular activity for girls and boys was Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. The Boy Scouts
seemed to be more out-door oriented then the Girl Scouts; Girl Scouts also sold cookies. As
years went by there was a shift to a more common ground. More girls and boys did more
activities/games together. As I said earlier there seemed to be more cooperation between the two
genders. This is probably because friend groups became more diversified as time goes on so both
genders could agree on activities to do. College sports are big with girls and they can compete
against other girls allowing them to share the competitive experience that boys have had.
In the course of this project, did you discover something you did not know before regarding
socialization into gender roles? If yes, what is it? If no, what do you think contributes the most to
gender differentiation and socialization into feminine and masculine roles?

5. GENDER ROLES 5
This course project got me to look back at my own experiences as a teenager. It helped
me to compare girl and boy interactions in the past to the present. I have always know that
socialization of gender role expectations plays a huge role in what girls and boys partake in. “We
are raised with certain gender roles which are taught to us by our family, peers, school, and the
mass media,” (Argosy University, 2011). As the years go by girls and boys tend to grow out of
these roles a little bit and see things in a new light. But in the early and teenage year’s girls and
boys do things that society deems appropriate. I have also gained a greater understanding and
respect for those people who went against the social norms. Like the few girls that played hockey
in my league. It must have been hard for them to play at times, seeing how it was a league
dominated by the other gender. They showed great courage to do what they did. I think as a
society children should be encourage to try many things. They should not be restricted to gender
role expectations. Trying many diverse things can lead the genders to a great understanding of
themselves and counter gender.

6. GENDER ROLES 6
References
Argosy University (2011). Sociological Perspective class ethnicity and gender. Argosy
University. Retrieved on November 20, 2011, 2011 from www.myeclassonline.com