"Actually, I don't do different": Black parents' perceptions of gender socialization of sons versus daughters.

Abstract

This study expanded on research examining families' roles in youth gender development that has investigated boys' versus girls' family experiences by using a within-family design to study the gender socialization of brothers versus sisters from the same families. We drew from archival data collected in 2001-2002 from an ethnic homogeneous sample of Black American mother-father families (N = 128) who were raising at least one son and one daughter; the majority of youth were adolescents (range 2-31 years). In separate home interviews, mothers and fathers described whether and how they socialized their sons versus daughters about education, their futures, and racism and discrimination. Across these three domains, most parents reported that they did not socialize their sons and daughters differently. Nonetheless, several themes emerged that illuminated race and race-gender intersectionality in parents' socialization, both resistance and accommodation to traditional gender norms, and the role of children's personal characteristics in parents' socialization, with similar themes evident among parents who did and who did not report socializing sons and daughters differently. This study advances understanding of parents' gender socialization and has implications for family-focused interventions aimed at promoting the well-being and achievement of Black American boys and girls. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).