1

Dana Alexander
Research paper: Androgyny
Adolescent Psychology
While raising a family, parents come across millions of extremely difficult decisions to
be made that will affect their children for the rest of their lives. Within the last few decades a
new issue has risen, whether to raise children with traditional gender roles or androgynously.
Androgyny, or the possession of both masculine and feminine characteristics, has become more
and more popularized in recent years. Gender roles play a huge part in society and on individual
lives. Perception of gender effects occupational decisions, attitudes, behaviors, talents, social
aspects, marital lives, academics, creativity, self-esteem, and so many more aspects of an
individuals life. Gender roles are learned through various interactions, observations, and
through society, but the most influential contributors are a childs parents. Parents have a major
effect on gender roles because parents are the main source of exposure and modeling throughout
the first few years of a childs life. Witt states (1997), However, the strongest influence on
gender role development seems to occur within the family setting, with parents passing on, both
overtly and covertly, to their children their own beliefs about gender (pg. 253). It is important
for parents to decide early on how they will raise their child, through traditional gender roles or
androgynously, because they are the main source of influence. In recent decades the idea that
parents should be encouraged to raise an androgynous son or daughter has been rising, but like
most things, there are pros and cons.
There are numerous benefits of being raised as androgynous. Studies have found that
androgynous individuals are more adaptive to change because of their flexibility and open-
mindedness. This is important because it leads them to a more positive outlook on change and
Commented [1]:
This research paper displays my development with Standard
1. 4. 12 B - Write complex informational pieces (eg. research
papers), make and support inferences with relevant and
substantial evidence and well- chosen details.
Commented [2]:
Flowers and Hayes- Audience:
While writing this research paper I thought a lot about
audeince. This paper was written for a vast and diverse
audience including my professor who would be reading and
grading this work, future parents who may encounter these
crucial decisions some day in the future, as well as teachers
who will have androgynous students in their classrooms.
This also connects to WPA standards of responding to the
needs of differetn audiences.

2
may even cause them look at change as a new opportunity, rather than as a bad thing, the way
people with more traditional gender roles feel. According to Cobb, R. A., Walsh, C.E., & Priest,
J.B. (2009) It has been proposed that that individuals displaying characteristics of androgyny
are more adaptive, given that they allow themselves a greater range of behaviors with which they
can interact with the world around them (pg. 83). Being more adaptive to change is an
extremely vital characteristic because humans are constantly faced with change on a day to day
basis, so being comfortable with change and having high levels of flexibility would lead an
androgynous person to more overall happiness, when compared to someone raised with
traditional gender roles. Androgynous people are also found to have much higher self-esteem,
self-concept, higher self value, and higher self-worth and are found to be the most mentally
healthy individuals. These individuals are less likely to have unrealistic expectations for
themselves which causes them to have higher self-value, when compared to sex-typed people.
Individuals who are androgynous are also found to have higher achievement, especially
academically. According to Ho Shin (2010), Androgyny has been linked to higher academic
performance in homogenous cultural groups. Choi found that individuals high in androgyny or
masculinity had higher academic efficacy (pg. 268). Having a high academic achievement level
is beneficially to all humans and would also lead to overall happiness,.
Society has created stigmas about masculinity and femininity and the ways that males
and females are supposed to act. Traditionally males are expected to be independent, aggressive,
tough, dominant, should suppress emotions, give more emphasis on work, and provide and
protect his family. Females are expected to be dependent, passive, emotional, self-sacrificing,
and submissive, and should repress anger, and focus on being a wife and mother (Cobb, R.A,
Walsh, C.E., & Priest, J.B., 2009, pg. 82). These ideas about how an individual should act based
Commented [3]:
Shows my ability to understand a writing assignment as a
series of tasks, including finding, evaluating, analyzing, and
synthesizing appropriate primary and secondary sources
(WPA)
Commented [4]:
WPA: Adopt appropriate voice, tone, and level of formality.
My tone throughout the work is both formal when needed
and informal when appropriate. This topic is a serious one
that needs to be address with respect and formality and I
expressed my understadning of that throughout my piece.

3
on societies standards causes individuals who were raised with traditional gender roles to often
suppress their emotions and actions. These sex-typed individuals fear how society will react if
they steer away from the norm, so they often suppress and internalize their emotions and
behaviors, and act in a way that will be accepted by society. Men often are afraid of showing
emotions such as crying and being sensitive, the same way females fear being too aggressive or
manly by societies standards. They suppress and internalize behaviors and emotions because
of societys ideas of what is socially acceptable. Along with suppressing their emotions and
actions, many of these sex-typed individuals often ignore talents because they are not considered
gender appropriate, whereas androgynous individuals do not worry about these stigmas and are
able to express their talents. According to Witt (1997), These costs include limiting
opportunities for both boys and girls, ignoring talent, and perpetuating unfairness in our society
(pg. 255). By suppressing their talents and emotions, sex-typed individuals often miss out on
opportunities, where as androgynous individuals feel completely comfortable with expressing
who they are, and they actually experiment more often and try new things. Androgynous
individuals are more comfortable with who they are and are more willing to come out of the
closet and let the world know when they are homosexual. These individuals are also found to be
more creative according to (Stoltzfus, G., Nibbelink, B.L., Vredenburg, D., & Thryum, E.,
2011), Androgynous individuals creative productions were judged to be superior to those of
participants representing other gender categories. Further analysis revealed the highest levels of
creativity in men who strongly identified with female gender role characteristics, with
androgynous women recording the next highest scores, (pg. 425). Both men and women who
were androgynous express higher levels of creativity over type-sexed individuals, which is
extremely important because high levels of creativity lead to high levels of self-expression, self-

4
esteem, and overall individuality. Androgynous individuals are found to have an overall higher
self-esteem, self-value, levels of achievement, levels of academic achievement and creativity, are
overall more flexible to change and are more socially accepting of themselves and others.
Although there are many benefits of being raised as androgynous, researchers have also
found that there are many disadvantages as well. Although androgynous individuals are more
accepting of others, that certainly does not mean that others, especially sex-typed individuals,
will be accepting of them. Being androgynous is not seen as the norm in todays society and
although androgyny is becoming more prevalent, it is still considered to be the minority group.
Society is not flexible to change, which means that these individuals who are raised androgynous
are seen as strange or different, which often leads them to being bullied, harassed, assumed to be
homosexual, and often have feelings of being an outsider. Society is accepting of those who are
classified as one gender, and unfortunately todays society has a really hard time accepting people
who do not follow the traditional norms by societies standards. Although parents may raise their
children to be androgynous, gender stereotypes are inevitable in society. According to Witt
(1997), Through a myriad of activities, opportunities, encouragements, discouragements, overt
behaviors, covert suggestions, and various forms of guidance, children experience the process of
gender role socialization. It is difficult for a child to grow to adulthood without experiencing
some form of gender bias or stereotyping (pg. 253). A parent may raise their child with
androgynous ideas, but society and other factors outside the home may lead the child to be
confused about what is right and what is wrong. Traditional roles are often reinforced by peers,
school experiences, and through the media. It is inevitable for individuals growing up in todays
society to experience gender stereotyping in some form, no matter how big or small. Individuals
who associate with one specific gender are found to have a greater sense of security and facilitate
Commented [5]:
Transitions have become clear and natural. They are no
longer choppy and awkward like they were in my Epic
Hero paper and the Deserted Island paper.

5
the ability for decision making, as opposed to androgynous people. Sex-typed children have an
easier time transitioning into adolescence and adolescents have a smooth time transitioning into
adulthood. Humans often encounter situations where they are required to complete gender
specific tasks but those who are androgynous have a difficult time because these tasks conflict
with their personal gender role. When it comes to marriage, androgynous individuals have a
difficult time finding a partner because unless their partner is also androgynous, there will be
roles that are overlapped, while other roles are neglected. Androgynous individuals also have
gender identity issues later in life because they do not know which sex they are supposed to
associate with. When it comes to sports and extracurricular activities androgyny becomes a
major issue in schooling because there are many sports where males and females are kept
separate, often for good reason. For example, if a female wants to be a wrestler there are many
issues that come with it. Not only is a female rolling around aggressively on the floor with a
male, but these males feel uncomfortable inappropriately touching a female. Many male
wrestlers forfeit their match if they know they are going up against a girl because they feel
uncomfortable, which often leads the girl to becoming the winner of state championships, when
they wrestled only a few people. This becomes a problem with fairness, while people are arguing
that everyone should be treated equally, society is not ready for overall equality. Also if a male
wants to be a ballet dancer because his parents taught him to be androgynous, he may be
harassed and bullied by his peers, and assumed to be homosexual. There are many negative
effects of androgyny that become apparent later in life for many individuals including confusion,
bullying and harassment, becoming an outcast, marital issues, and many other social issues,
because unfortunately gender role stereotyping is inevitable.

6
In my own personal opinion I believe it is better to raise your children with traditional
gender roles, rather than androgyny. Although there are many benefits of being androgynous,
such as higher levels of academic achievement, self-esteem, creativity, flexibility, and
acceptance, that does not mean that individuals who are raised with traditional roles do not also
possess these same characteristics. I myself and many of my peers have been raised with
traditional gender roles and we all express these same levels of achievement and self esteem.
Another major reason I believe traditional gender roles are better is because there is already an
excess amount of bullying and harassment that goes on among adolescents in todays society, and
androgyny just adds to the numbers. Being a teenager is difficult enough and already a very
confusing transition, so adding in androgyny would make the situation even more confusing and
difficult for any individual. Androgyny is the minority group in todays society and sadly,
members of society have a very difficult time accept those who dont follow the norm. Although
androgyny may seem ideal while a child is young, there are numerous issues that arise from it
later in life. After doing weeks upon weeks of research on this topic, I have found that todays
society is not ready for a major change such as androgyny and unfortunately the benefits of
androgyny do not outweigh the negatives, in my opinion.

Works Cited
Cobb, R. A., Walsh, C. E., & Priest, J. B. (2009). The cognitive-active gender role identification
continuum. Journal of feminist therapy, 21(2), 77-97.

Kyoung, H. S., Jang , A. Y., & Edwards, C. E. (2010). Gender role identity among korean and
american college students: Links to gender and academic achievement. Social Behavioral
& Personality: An International Journal, 38(2), 267-272.

Commented [6]:
Peter Elbow: Importance of Voice. Throughout the entire
work, my voice, as well as many others voices, shine
through. At the end I give my own personal opinion on the
subject.


7

Stoltzfus, G., Nibbelink, B. L., Vredenburg , D., & Thyrum, E. (2011). Gender, gender role, and
creativity. Social Behavior & Personality: An Intentional Journal, 39(3), 425-433.

Witt, S. D. (1997). Parental influence on children.Adolescence, 32(126), 253-260.