Poster #34 - 1.) Caregiver Socialization of Sexism and #MeToo Movement

• In Event: Poster Session 01

Abstract

Cultural moments—significant events sparking or relating to social or political change—can be reference points for caregivers to engage in conversations surrounding identity or discrimination with their children. Media coverage or legislation provides tangible windows of opportunities for caregivers to have conversations about difficult topics with their children. The rise of the #MeToo movement in 2017, for example, brought to light personal stories of the impact of sexism, sexual harassment, and sexual assault. Should they choose to, caregivers could use the #MeToo cultural moment to make it meaningful in their children’s lives.

Cultural socialization frameworks (e.g., Hughes et al., 2016; Umaña-Taylor & Hill, 2020) describe processes by which family socialization about racial and ethnic groups occur and the benefits to talking to children about race and racism. Little, however, is discussed in literature regarding the socialization of sexism, although gender remains a highly salient feature of children’s environments, and children exhibit gendered stereotypes as early as age three (King, Scovelle, Meehl, Milner & Priest, 2021). Examining caregiver attitudes and behavior may help researchers understand sexism-specific socialization processes.

The current study aims to use the #MeToo movement to examine caregivers’ socialization behaviors and attitudes surrounding sexism. This work is guided by three research questions: (1) how do caregivers in our sample report socialization attitudes and behaviors surrounding the #MeToo movement, (2) how do caregivers address hypothetical conversations with their child about the #MeToo movement and, (3) what personal and demographic factors predict socialization behaviors related to the #MeToo movement?

This project is part of a larger study measuring caregiver socialization related to six cultural moments. An online survey was distributed to caregivers living in the U.S. in the fall of 2021. The mixed-method approach included a combination of retroactive and current accounts of socialization behaviors and attitudes. Caregivers reported a mean age of 35.98 (sd = 6.01), with 50% men, 48% women, 2% non-binary or genderfluid, and 40% white, 20% Black, 15% Latinx, 7% Asian, 1% Indigenous, and 16% reporting more than one race. Children were identified as 51% boys and 49% girls with a mean age of 9.55 (sd= 3.41).

To approach the first question, we report descriptive findings based on socialization behaviors and attitudes. Preliminary results revealed 49.8% of participants feel very or extremely comfortable discussing the movement and 48.6% feel very or extremely prepared to do so. For the second question, we coded open-ended responses; three preliminary themes emerged: (1) naming resources (e.g., books, developmentally appropriate videos), (2) explanation of personal factors influencing conversations (e.g., firsthand experiences, child’s gender), and (3) related lessons they would teach their child (e.g., bodily autonomy, gender equality). To address the third question, we plan to use caregiver and child gender, caregiver education, political orientation, warmth towards women, and warmth towards the movement as predictors of socialization behaviors.

Outcomes of this work can be used to inform researchers of caregivers’ current socialization practices to help develop interventions that improve caregiver comfort and child outcomes related to conversations surrounding sexism and other -isms.

Authors

• Jessica Marie LaFontaine, Suffolk University
  Presenting Author

• Lacey J. Hilliard, Suffolk University

• Kingsley Schroeder, Springfield College, Springfield, MA