Our gender is a huge aspect of our identity. From birth, we typically are identified as a boy or a girl and quickly learn about what it means to be male or female in our family, school, community, and the world around us. We learn about what boys/men and girls/women can or “should” do from the activities our parents do and don’t do, from the activities they encourage and discourage us to do, from the way they treat us and our siblings, etc. We also learn about what is expected of our gender from peers, teachers, other adults in our lives, and of course, the media. Describe several ways that you learned about gender role expectations in your young childhood years. For example, what messages did you receive from family members, other adults, peers, and/or media about gender? Describe both verbal (what was said) and nonverbal (what you observed or what was implied) messages you received about gender. Be specific and try to remember how old you were.