parenting gender, from left to right

In our present era of book bans, challenges to K-12 gender curriculum, and legislative battles over gender-affirming care, it seems the left and right have nothing in common when it comes to kids. To learn more, Mallory Rees and Abigail Saguy examined the current state of discourse on gender in the context of parenting, drawing on interviews with 85 U.S. gender activists from diverse political orientations. As expected, their Social Forces article reports conflicting opinions, but also notes several surprising points of alignment.

Left-wing gender activists in the study tended to endorse following a child’s intuitive gender expression and identification, sometimes even suggesting that parents should wait to use any gender labels until prompted by the child. In contrast, their right-wing counterparts typically expressed the idea that teaching children how they fit into society based on their sex assigned at birth would better set them up for adult success.In our present era of book bans, challenges to K-12 gender curriculum, and legislative battles over gender-affirming care, it seems the left and right have nothing in common when it comes to kids. …By highlighting points of convergence, the study provides a more accurate and nuanced depiction of the polarized parenting advice affecting U.S. families….

Despite these differences, however, Rees and Saguy found subtle indicators of convergence in these activists’ parenting preferences. On the right, activists expressed support for practices that would have been considered progressive a few decades ago, such as letting girls play with “boy toys” or encouraging them to pursue traditionally masculine career paths. On the left, activists showed a shift from earlier feminist movements by placing comparatively less emphasis on the societal oppression of women, instead focusing on gender as an identity to be celebrated and nurtured. Moreover, activists on both sides aligned in their understanding of gender as an innate rather than a socially constructed personal attribute (even if they disagreed on its origin).

Though activists may not reflect the perspectives—let alone the practices—of ordinary American parents, their views hold significant sway over public opinion. By highlighting points of convergence, the study provides a more accurate and nuanced depiction of the polarized parenting advice affecting U.S. families than we’re likely to encounter in our social media feeds.