#12: Results

After I received all of my responses for my survey there were certain elements that surprised me, while other parts went along with what I was expecting.  Through my survey I was trying to see if there is a difference in opinions on gender norms depending on peoples gender and age.  I had people rate scenarios of children breaking gender norms from 1 to 10 with 1 being completely acceptable and 10 being not acceptable. When it came to the differences in gender I noticed that men were more likely to rate a scenario with a girl breaking a gender norm such as being on a wrestling team, with a higher number than the scenarios with boys breaking gender norms.  This surprised me because while doing my research earlier in the year, it seemed that men were much harsher when it came to young boys breaking gender norms.  When I compared the responses based on the age of the person who took the survey, I noticed that the people who fell between the 30-50+ age range had a much less lenient view on the scenarios then did those who fell in the 13-25 age range.  I expected to see this sort of generational difference. I think the fact that the 13-25 year olds grew up in a more modern society that had much more accepting values played a big role in their opinions of these scenarios.

When I first started my research gender development was a topic that I had had an interest in, and that interest only grew the more I learned about the topic.  We live in a society where there unfortunately is still a negative stigma on children who break gender norms.  There are currently steps being made to make this a more accepting society and to make kids feel comfortable to be whoever they want to be.  I have learned a lot through my research and it has actually helped me become a more accepting person.  I hope that this is just the start of my research and that this is something that I can continue learning more about in upcoming years.