GENDER STUDY
Children of same sex parents share their views on gender.
Many researchers have found that children with same sex parents do not adhere to traditional gender roles, which benefits their well-being.
Dr. Simon Crouch found that children from same sex parent families scored around 6% higher on general health and family cohesion compared to children of heterosexual parents. He suggested that this could have something to do with the way their parents don’t default to gender stereotypes and the greater family and social cohesion among same sex parent families comes from an equal distribution of work.
“Same sex couples are likely to share responsibilities more equally than heterosexual ones. It is liberating for parents to take on roles that suit their skills rather than defaulting to gender stereotypes, where mum is the primary care giver and dad the primary breadwinner,” he said.
Dr. Crouch said same sex couples faced less pressure to fulfil traditional gender roles, which led to more harmonious households.
We wanted to take this research further and put Dr. Simon Crouch’s findings to the test by gathering the views and opinions of children with same sex parents regarding gender.
We came up with a little questionnaire made up of ten simple questions relating to gender/gender roles which children from around the age of four years would be able to comprehend.
Enjoy the responses!
Check out the article that Gay Star News wrote about our study here!
Question:
What is the difference between a boy and a girl?
Answers:
"They don't look the same." - Ethan
"Boys have penises and short hair, girls have vaginas and long
hair." - Reid
"I honestly think there is no difference." - Jacob
"Boys are stronger." - Benjamin
"A boy has a penis, a girl has a vagina." - Marisol
"Girls wear skirts and some have long hair, boys wear pants and shorts." - Emma
"They are just called boys & girls, they just have different
names." - Mackinley
"They have different private parts." - Avery
*Giggles* "Their bodies are made different." - Maelei
"Well girls, hmmm, they sometimes have longer hair than me, but not you Mama." - Rainer
"Nothing." – Skyler
"Their privates." – Lucia
"Girls have a vagina and boys have a penis." – Hayden
"I don't know. There isn't." – Brayden
"Boys have a penis and girls have periods." – Kendra
"Umm....clothes." – Maddy
Question:
Girls like pink, boys like blue. Is this correct?
Answers:
"No." - Ethan
"YES! - But I like pink, so maybe some boys can like pink." - Reid
"Um, depends. Actually not all. It depends because some girls like boy things and some boys like girl things." - Jacob
"No." - Benjamin
"No. Daddy loves fuchsia." - Marisol
"No. Boys can like blue or pink it doesn't matter." - Emma
"They both like pink and they both like blue." - Mackinley
"No." - Avery
"No, anyone can like colors. I like mint green and that's kinda like blue. Mia (friend) likes green, Jaedon (brother) likes
pink." - Maelei
"That's not correct. Mama you like blue." - Rainer
"No. People like different colors." – Skyler
"Yes." – Lucia
"Yes and no. Girls can like pink or blue and so can boys." – Hayden
"Girls like all colors like boys." – Brayden
"Sometimes." – Kendra
"No. Pink is for boys too and blue for girls. Hey, my favorite color's blue." – Maddy
Question:
What jobs does a boy do when he grows up?
Answers:
"I don't know." - Ethan
"Building." - Reid
"It depends on what they actually want to be." - Jacob
"Chef." - Benjamin
"Own their own store." - Marisol
"Different kind of jobs, they can do hair or be police officers or work at McDonald's, anything they want." - Emma
"Nice jobs." - Mackinley
"Any jobs it doesn't matter." - Avery
"Any job they want!" - Maelei
"I have no idea. Probably an artist that makes pictures and makes video games." - Rainer
"Police." - Skyler
"Office job, architecture." – Lucia
"There aren't really any jobs that are just for boys or just for
girls." – Hayden
"Work stuff." – Brayden
"A Nurse or a Vet." – Kendra
"Policemen, Construction workers, Elephant trainers." – Maddy
Question:
What jobs does a girl do when she grows up?
Answers:
"I don't know." - Ethan
"They work in aeroplanes or work on computers." - Reid
"Anything they want, same as a boy." - Jacob
"Chef." - Benjamin
"Own their own store." - Marisol
"Any kind. Teach ballet classes or karate classes or anything they want." - Emma
"Be nice." - Mackinley
"Any jobs it doesn't matter." - Avery
"Also any job they want!" - Maelei
"Any jobs that boys can do. And boys can do hair salons if they want, and makeup styles." - Rainer
"Doctor." – Skyler
"Nurse, veterinarian." – Lucia
"There aren't really any jobs that are just for boys or just for
girls." – Hayden
"Same work stuff." – Brayden
"A Dolphin trainer or a Vet." – Kendra
"Girls just work." – Maddy
Question:
Girls should have long hair and boys should have short hair, do you think that's true?
Answers:
"No, my mom has short hair." - Ethan
"Yes." - Reid
"No, that's not true because some boys have long hair like my pawpaw." - Jacob
"No." - Benjamin
"No." - Marisol
"They can let their hair grow or cut it, whatever they like." - Emma
"What about... they both have short hair and both have long
hair." - Mackinley
"No." - Avery
"No because mom had long hair and she cut it off. Mr J (teacher) had long hair!" - Maelei
"No. Girls can have long hair if they want and short hair if they want. Boys can have long hair or short hair if they want." - Rainer
"They can have what they want." – Skyler
"No." – Lucia
"No!" – Hayden
"Some boys have long hair and my Momma has short hair, she's a girl." – Brayden
"No. I have short hair and some boys have long hair." – Kendra
"No, because I have short hair." – Maddy
Question:
Most shops separate children's toys into toys for boys and toys for girls, do you think shops should keep doing this?
Answers:
"No." - Ethan
"I like them to be separate, I like looking at the girl toys." - Reid
"Yes so they don't get mixed up and easier to find things." - Jacob
"No." - Benjamin
"No, boys can have girls stuff and girls can have boys
stuff." - Marisol
"Boys and girls toys should be together so they can pick what they like." - Emma
"When Gram and I went to the store the barbies were in a different spot... I want a barbie!" - Mackinley
"No they are all just toys." - Avery
"They can because it's good to organize but I like Nerf Guns and dolls. Mia (friend) likes legos and not dolls." - Maelei
"No, because then that's separating the money." - Rainer
"I guess so." – Skyler
"Yes." – Lucia
"No, they should mix them all together, kids like to play with everything!" – Hayden
"I like girl toys too." – Brayden
"Yes so I know where to get toys for me." – Kendra
"No, share." – Maddy
Question:
What is your favorite toy to play with?
Answers:
"My stuffed turtle." - Ethan
"My teddy." - Reid
"I like all my toys but my favorite would probably be my stuffed Pikachus because I like Pikachu." - Jacob
"Rapunzel hair toy." - Benjamin
"Stuffed toys." - Marisol
"Isabelle and Grace." - Emma
"Legos, trains, bubbles." - Mackinley
"Dinosaurs." - Avery
"My new baby doll." - Maelei
"My Batman." - Rainer
"Legos." – Skyler
"Minecraft stuffed animal." – Lucia
"Barbies & shopkins." – Hayden
"Water guns and the bath tub mermaid." – Brayden
"My Nintendo 3DS." – Kendra
"Legos and baby dolls." – Maddy
Question:
How would it make you feel if someone told you that you couldn't join in with playing a game because you are a boy/girl?
Answers:
"Sad and angry." - Ethan
"Very sad that only girls can play and no boys." - Reid
"I would say you can't necessarily say that because everyone is different and I shouldn't listen to what you say because I like myself and you should care about other people." - Jacob
"Make me mad and tell the teacher." - Benjamin
"Sad and mad then play with someone else." - Marisol
"Sad because that's not nice and if you are a boy or girl you can play whatever you like." - Emma
"Sad." - Mackinley
"I would be mad." - Avery
"It would make me feel mad and it wouldn't make sense. Girls can play all the things boys play and boys can play all things girls can play." - Maelei
"Sad." - Rainer
"Sad." – Skyler
"I wouldn’t care." – Lucia
"I wouldn't want to play with kids who thought that." – Hayden
"Whatever I would play anyway or pretend to be a
girl." – Brayden
"I would feel sad and upset because they are mean and I do not like mean people." – Kendra
"It would make me so sad." – Maddy
Question:
Is it okay for a boy to dress up as a princess and a girl to dress up as a pirate when playing dress up games?
Answers:
"Yes." - Ethan
"Yes." - Reid
"Depends, if a boy likes that then uh-huh and same with a
girl." - Jacob
"Yes." - Benjamin
"Yes of course." - Marisol
"That's fine." - Emma
"They both like being both of them." - Mackinley
"Yes." - Avery
"Yes because some people don't feel comfortable in boy clothes and some people don't feel comfortable in girl clothes." - Maelei
"Yes!" - Rainer
"Yes." – Skyler
"Yes." – Lucia
"Yes." - Hayden
"My sister likes my costumes and that's okay." – Brayden
"Yes I think it's okay because that is normal." – Kendra
"Yes!" – Maddy
Question:
Do boys still cry when they are grown-ups? Do girls?
Answers:
"Yes, yep." - Ethan
"No, no." - Reid
"Sometimes like if you feel a lot of pain and maybe happy
tears." - Jacob
"Yes, yes everybody can cry, everyone in the world can
cry." - Benjamin
"Yes of course." - Marisol
"I don't think so, maybe girls sometimes." - Emma
"Only babies cry when they are little." - Mackinley
"Sometimes, for both." - Avery
"Yea mmm hmm! They don't cry as much though." - Maelei
"Yes!" - Rainer
"No. They aren't scared of anything!" – Skyler
"Yes, yes." – Lucia
"Yes to both." – Hayden
"Yeah everyone cries even moms." – Brayden
"Yes sometimes they both can for a sad reason." – Kendra
"Why would they? No." – Maddy
- Ethan | age 6 | male | two mom/mum family
- Reid | age 5 | male | two dad family
- Jacob | age 8 | male | two mom/mum family
- Benjamin | age 6 | male | two dad family
- Marisol | age 7 | female | two dad family
- Emma | age 5 | female | two mom/mum family
- Mackinley | age 6 | male | two mom/mum family
- Avery | age 7 | female | two mom/mum family
- Maelei | age 9 | female | two mom/mum family
- Rainer | age 6 | male | two mom/mum family
- Skyler | age 5 | male | two mom/mum family
- Lucia | age 9 | female | two mom/mum family
- Hayden | age 6 | female | two mom/mum family
- Brayden | age 5 | male | two mom/mum family
- Kendra | age 11 | female | two dad family
- Maddy | age 4 | female | two mom/mum family