Parenting Beyond Pink & Blue: How to Raise Your Kids Free of Gender Stereotypes

Description

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 pinkand blue boxes to become their authentic selves.

CHRISTIA SPEARS BROWN, PhD, is an associate professor of developmental psychology at the University of Kentucky. Her work on the impact of gender stereotypes on children and adolescents has been published widely in scientific journals and featured in numerous newspapers, magazines, local radio shows, NPR, and the CBS Evening News. She blogs regularly forPsychology Todayin her column "Beyond Pink and Blue." She is also an expert panelist for the ACLU.

"Practical and research-based, Parenting Beyond Pink-and-Blue is a terrific guide for parents who want to do the best for both their sons and daughters." -Lise Eliot, PhD, author of Pink Brain, Blue Brain "Whether you are a parent who believes that boys and girls are 'just different' or a parent who believes that gender differences are all 'just culture,' you will find valuable science and advice in Parenting Beyond Pink & Blue." -Lynn S. Liben, Distinguished Professor of Psychology at Pennsylvania State University "Christia Spears Brown has hit a home run! Unlike many parenting books, this one is based on scientific evidence and conveyed in an engaging writing style. If you want your child to grow up to have opportunities unconstrained by old-fashioned gender stereotypes, this is the book for you." -Prof. Janet Shibley Hyde, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and author of Half the Human Experience: the Psychology of Women "Parents want to raise strong and competent daughters and sons, but how can they know what to do and not do when they are bombarded with messages about the 'natural' traits and abilities of boys and girls. Christia Spears Brown provides great guidelines for helping all children develop their unique talents by avoiding the traps set by our beliefs about gender differences. It is great read for concerned parents, grandparents, teachers, and others." -Dr. Diane F. Halpern, Dean of Social Sciences at Minerva Schools and KGI and McElwee Family Professor of Psychology at Claremont McKenna College