(2022) Science and education, 4, 29-33. Odessa.

Maryna Voloshenko,
Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences, Associate Professor,
Associate Professor of the Department of Psychology and Social Work,
Odesa Polytechnic National University,
1, Shevchenko Ave., Odesa, Ukraine
ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0940-3829

GENDER DIFFERENCES IN PARENTING

One of the spheres that clearly reveal the differences between men and women is the sphere of implementation of parental functions and roles. Parental and maternal roles are not identical in essence and content. It was believed to be related to both the biological and social sex (gender) of each parent. Recently, researchers have focused on the gender aspects of parenting and their social origins. Theories of biological determination of parenthood were not productive for explaining the diversity of childparent relationships. The source of the difference in the content of parental and maternal roles must be sought not in the parents' biology, but in their own experience of socialization. The image of oneself as a father is formed as a result of the interaction of many factors of the social order (features of gender stratification of society and related values, stereotypes and superstitions, cultural symbolism, experience of interaction with one's own parents). Therefore, in order to understand the specifics of maternal and paternal behavior, it is important to analyze the most established ideas in society about what the traditional division of roles in the family should be. Nevertheless, the analysis of the literature suggests that there are differences in how parents of different sexes see their own child, in the style of interaction and care for it, and in the peculiarities of upbringing. Men describe their baby more positively than women. At the same time, they remain distant from their children, perceiving the wife as a mediator in the relationship with the children. Modern fathers actively help mothers in child care, gradually withdrawing from the problems of upbringing, turning into an «invisible father».

gender, parenthood, motherhood, specifics of maternal and paternal behavior.

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