Parenting beyond pink and blue : how to raise your kids free of gender stereotypes

A guide that helps parents focus on their children's unique strengths and inclinations rather than on gendered stereotypes to more effectively bring out the best in their individual children, for parents of infants to middle schoolers. Reliance on Gendered Stereotypes Negatively Impacts Kids Studies on gender and child development show that, on average, parents talk less to baby boys and are less likely to use numbers when speaking to little girls. Without meaning to, we constantly color-code children, segregating them by gender based on their presumed interests. Our social dependence on these norms has far-reaching effects, such as leading girls to dislike math or increasing aggression in boys. In this practical guide, developmental psychologist (and mother of two) Christia Spears Brown uses science-based research to show how over-dependence on gender can limit kids, making it harder for them to develop into unique individuals. With a humorous, fresh, and accessible perspective, Parenting Beyond Pink & Blue addresses all the issues that contemporary parents should consider—from gender-segregated birthday parties and schools to sports, sexualization, and emotional intelligence. This guide empowers parents to help kids break out of pink and blue boxes to become their authentic selves. A guide that helps parents focus on their children's unique strengths and inclinations rather than on gendered stereotypes to more effectively bring out the best in their individual children, for parents of infants to middle schoolers. When parents place less emphasis on gender, children are free to flourish in activities and ways that are authentic to them. Parenting Beyond Pink and Blueuses everyday language and relatable situations to reveal the cutting-edge scientific research behind our cultural acceptance of outdated gender roles and our cultural focus on gender differences. This book helps parents take notice of the dangerous ways a focus on gender differences can--without meaning to--limit our kids, such as leading girls to dislike math and increasing aggression in boys. Developmental psychologist (and mother of two) Christia Spears Brown, PhD, offers practical information on how parents can be a little less gender-driven in their parenting, presenting a fresh, accessible, even humorous perspective on raising a son or a daughter--it's not about ignoring or denying gender differences, but it is about not feeling relegated to one half of Toys-R-Us. Modern parents want to raise their children as unique individuals; Parenting Beyond Pink and Blue helps them break out of the restrictive pink or blue box Outlines Psychology-based Strategies For Focusing On A Child's Unique Strengths Rather Than On Gender Expectations, Counseling Parents On How To Avoid Cultural Inclinations That Limit A Child's Potential. Prologue: On Being The Weird Daughter-in-law -- Gender Differences: Changing Our Focus. Noticing Gender ; Why Labels Matter ; Why We Focus On Gender Differences -- Gender Facts: Science And Stereotypes. There Are Gender Differences ; How Different Is Different? ; Decoding Neuroscience -- Raising Unique (fun, Well-rounded, Smarter, And Happier) Kids. How Children Help Create The Differences We See ; Parenting A Stereotype ; Accidentally Shaping Who Children Become ; Stereotype Sneak Attacks ; Separate But Equal? An Old Problem Is New Again -- Epilogue: Dropping The Stereotypes And Picking Your Battles. Christia Spears Brown, Phd. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 210-219) And Index.