An analysis of gender socialization

An Analysis of Gender Socialization
By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and assessment criteria:

Competency 1: Examine how theory and sociological concepts apply to everyday life.

Identify gender-specific childhood clothing and/or toys.

Competency 2: Evaluate the basic tools of sociological inquiry.

Evaluate the validity and helpfulness of gender socialization sources.
Summarize gender socialization sources.

Competency 5: Evaluate the impact of social change on society and social institutions.

State and defend a personal approach to ethical decision-making.
State and defend a position on a contemporary ethical issue.

Competency 6: Demonstrate written and verbal communication skills for effectively presenting sociological concepts, ideas, and analyses.

Write in a professional style using APA 6th edition referencing and format with correct grammar, usage, and mechanics.

The purpose of this assignment is twofold:

It will help you to start thinking about the impact of socialization on your life as a starting point for your final project.
It requires you to locate and evaluate resources on socialization that may be used in your final paper.

Socialization, the lifelong social experience through which we learn culture, is vital to becoming members of a society. One type of socialization that occurs at a very early age involves gender roles. For this assignment you will analyze how gender is created by society, specifically looking at children’s toys and/or clothing.
From birth, parents act toward children on the basis of the child’s sex. Children’s clothing and toys reflect their parents gender expectations. For this assignment, complete the following:

Thinking back on your childhood, were your toys and/or clothing gender-specific? Identify the clothing and/or toys you had and how they reflect gender expectations.
Describe what messages your toys and/or clothing sent about gender and on yourself.
How do these messages reflect larger societal expectations?
Analyze gender-specific messages that arise from childhood clothing and/or toys.
What impact do you think these messages had on you? In doing so, be sure to utilize concepts introduced in this section as well as course readings on socialization.
Your analysis should also include information from two additional outside resources regarding gender socialization—one from a popular source and one from a scholarly source. A critical component of this assignment involves evaluating these outside resources. 

Provide a summary of the outside articles (one scholarly and one popular) and how they will be helpful in your final project. Evaluate the information you receive from these sources—both in terms of validity and helpfulness—using specific course materials from Unit 2. For example, how can each source be evaluated in terms of accuracy, objectivity, audience, and content? What conclusions can you draw about these sources?

Use APA format for citations, references, and general paper formatting. Your writing should use correct grammar and mechanics.
Your paper should be at least three pages in length, excluding the cover page and the references page.