Form and Content in Children’s
Drawings:
How they relate to each other and to
gender roles
Elizabeth Johnson
ARE 6905
April 16, 2013
Discussion/Conclusion
• The various examples of studies shows that there is a clear
difference in the way boys and girls draw pictures, but it begs
the age old question of nurture vs nature?
• Rather, is it biological or is it societal influence?
• They are clearly both strong factors that play into the way that
children draw.
• Analyzing whether the two are related, as in this study, may
help to reveal which is more relevant to what influences the
outcome of a child’s drawing more.
Discussion/Conclusion
•
It is no wonder that there may be an early preference
in children for certain motifs and colors, with gender
directed motifs in clothing and decorations early on.
•
•
Girls are adorned with decorative prints of flowers and rainbows,
while boys have images of trucks and monsters.
Girls are given humanistic toys, like baby dolls and Barbies, while
boys are given fake weapons and mobile toys.
• Parents surround girls with objects that are pink and
boys with objects that are blue.
•
They may feel more comfortable finding a place and identifying
themselves with certain things in the world, and these colors
based on familiarity (LoBue & DeLoache, 2011, p.657).
Discussion/Conclusion
• I found there to be a consistent pattern threaded throughout the review
of literature, in that girls find it more acceptable to identify themselves
with male traits while boys are shown to avoid being viewed as having any
female traits.
• It seems that girls are much more comfortable weaving in and out of the
boundaries of gender roles and you can see this in the studies on color
preference.
• The color studies may just be telling of a bigger issue that might need
attention, in that young boys may feel more confined in their roles than
girls, to stay within social boundaries.
• Conversely, there seems to be mixed messages and expectations for girls
growing up in our society, dressed in pink and frills, yet expected to show
they are “equal” to boys.
Discussion/Conclusion
Solutions?
• Art educators need to be aware of these issues when teaching
children of different genders to understand their students
better.
• Giving children exposure to contemporary and historical
artwork by both genders is one way to show different styles
and subjects that have been done, and that can be borrowed
from or expanded on.
• Boys may need to be encouraged to use more colors and
more diversity in their range of colors.
Discussion/Conclusion
• But is it a problem?
• Is it bad if children might feel more
comfortable identifying themselves with
gender roles, as a way to figure out who
they are?
• children’s brains may just need that
framework to categorize themselves in a
system of societal structures
• It may be the framework that needs to be
reconfigured.
Discussion/Conclusion
• Solutions?
• A solution might be to adopt cultural norms from
societies with exemplar gender role equities.
• Sweden, for example, has been mixing gender
roles in their children’s catalogues, exposing
children to images that will make an impression
on the way they view what roles are acceptable
options for them as they find their places in the
world.
Image from the Swedish Catalogue, Leklust
Image from the Swedish Catalogue, Leklust
Images from Swedish Toys “R” Us
and Top-Toys Catalogues
Images from Swedish “TopToys
and Toys “R”Us
Catalogues.
Discussion/Conclusion
• I do not claim to know the best answer, but
nonetheless, the more information we have as
teachers about our students, the better we are able
to guide them, individually.
• It is the teacher’s responsibility to continue their
own education inside and outside of their
classrooms, to bring that knowledge back to the
students, and encourage them to go beyond the
boundaries of what they know and are taught at
home.
Discussion/Conclusion
• Personally, I have found these studies to be very
insightful not just as a prospective art teacher, but
as a new parent to a baby boy.
• I have been much more conscious of his gender
and how I may or not be treating him in regards to
that.
• He intently watched his father put a bed together
recently, and I think that was the most still and
focused I have ever seen him.
• So I do think there is more to gender roles than
just what society has molded us into, but that the
roles we have made as a society were also shaped
by inherent proclivities.
Literature Review
Problems with Tuman’s study:
• Only thirty-three children were found to create a drawing outside of a
predicted gendered framework.
• This may have been the results due to the limited options of gender roles
in the narrative and had the results may have varied more, if the children
were given a more diverse range of roles to relate with.
• While the data suggests that content and formal elements are related in
terms of gender, it does not delve into how or if they are related with one
another.
• Tuman does not investigate what impact a child’s environment and
background may have on the way they choose content.
Literature Review
Contrasting Study: “Gender Differentiation and Young
Children’s Drawings,“ found no differences in the content or
formal characteristics in children’s drawings (Chen &
Kantner, 1996).
• When looking at nine different dimensions of both male
and female children’s drawings from kindergarten and
third grade, the only differences found were in drawing
skills, finding girls had superior drawing skills to boys, as
well as a preference for drawing their own gender. But
they found no gender differentiation for the variables of
subject matter, the use of form in shapes, or in color
selection.
Literature Review
Problems with this study:
• it highlights interest in sex desegregation programs for preschool and
primary grades in public schools and claims that examining children’s
drawings can be used to evaluate the effectiveness.
• The idea of the program promotes that teachers provide multicultural and
nonsexist activities and material (Chen & Kantner, 1996), but this study
does not clearly state as to what extent the school where the children
were sampled did or did not participate and implement these practices.
• It also states that the slight differences in gender become less in third
graders, but not attributing it to anything in particular, whether that it is
from a desegregation program or otherwise.
• this was a local study in a university-based town and that the results may
not be very broad.
Literature Review
Supporting Study: “Children’s Gendered Sense of Self and Play as
Represented Through Drawings and Written Descriptions,” does
uphold Tuman’s and other previous research findings, that the
way children of opposite genders both draw and choose content
are, in fact, different (Bosacki et al., 2008).
• unlike Tuman’s study, and something that will be included in
the current study, it has a self-report questionnaire and one
that the children took home for their parents’ to answer.
Literature Review
• Procedure/Results:
• A scale was presented orally to the children and after each
item, they were asked to respond to a Likert-type of scale of
pictures indicating how true it was for them (Bosacki et al.,
2008).
• Once this was completed the children were asked to draw a
picture of him or herself playing on an 8” x 11” blank sheet of
paper with a box of eight crayons. They were also asked to
circle themselves in the picture and to describe their drawings
on the back, to the extent they were able to.
Literature Review
• Procedure/Results:
• When analyzed according to whether the activities were physical or
nonphysical and if they were competitive or solitary, twice as many
girls drew physical and nonphysical cooperative activities and drew
solitary behaviors, whereas for boys, this was the least common
• Boys were more likely to draw physical, competitive activities.
• When analyzing themes of play experiences, girls referred to more
social and psychological aspects of play
• Boys focused mainly on physical activities (Bosacki et al., 2008).
• The only finding that was not consistent with past research, was
that the boys drew more animals than the girls.
Literature Review
Support of Biological Causes: “Sex Differences in Children’s
Free Drawings,” shows that it is not just societal influences,
but that there is an inherent, biological component to why
younger boys and girls draw differently (Iijima et al., 2001).
• It is not testosterone that some might believe that is the
reason boys are more aggressive and physical by nature,
but it is the hormone, androgen.
• Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) is a genetic
disorder that begins prenatally and results in
overproduction of adrenal androgen (Iijima et al., 2001,
p.99).
• This study analyzed drawings by females with CAH
along with unaffected males and females, using
masculine and feminine indexes.
Literature Review
Procedure/Results:
• An analysis of male and female characteristics in children’s
drawings was performed on four aspects: motif,
composition, expression, and color (Iijima et al., 2001,
p.101).
• What they found was the feminine index for the pictures of
CAH girls was significantly lower than that for unaffected
girls, while the masculine index was significantly greater
than that for unaffected girls.
• the masculine index for CAH girls was not significantly
different from that for boys ( Iijima et al., 2001)
• What they found with the unaffected children were typical
to previous research
•
Example: Girls decidedly prefer pink and flesh colors and like to use
warm colors, in contrast to boys that like to use more cold colors.
(Iijima et al., p.100).
Literature Review
Support of Societal/Parental Influences: “Pretty in pink: the
development of gender-stereotyped colour preferences,” reveals
that boys and girls develop color preferences very early on, but
that it may be societal influence rather than a natural preference
(LoBue & DeLoache, 2011).
• Similar to the previous study, the notable difference in regards
to color can mostly be seen with the color pink.
• The focus is mainly on pink, because while blue is often
associated with boys, it is completely acceptable for girls as
well.
Literature Review
Procedure/Results:
• There were two different experiments conducted. Both, giving an equal
number of male and female children, from infancy to age five, the options
to choose between items that were either pink or any other color than
pink.
• The ending results show that around age 2.5, girls begin to demonstrate a
significant preference for pink. Boys equally begin to show a clear
avoidance for pink by the age of 3 and this was tested up to the age of 5.
Before age 2, girls and boys showed no difference when selecting between
the color pink and any other color.
• Several cognitive and constructivist views of gender development suggest
children recognize their own gender, they actively seek out gender-related
information and integrate that information into their developing concept
of gender (LoBue & DeLoache, 2011, p.658).
Literature Review
Similar Study: “The Color of Children’s Gender Stereotypes,” they
found that the content of an illustrated booklet was more important to
children than the formal characteristic, color (Karniol, 2011).
Procedure:
• Children were given the choice of two booklets to color with the
same contents inside, but with different covers.
• One cover had a pink illustration of Batman, while the other had a
light blue illustration of a Bratz doll. Inside the booklets were the
same three drawings that the children were asked to color: a fairy, a
male action figure, and five stars. The five stars was to be a neutral
option.
• Each child was given eight crayons split with four stereotypical
colors associated with each gender, but were told they could use
any they choose.
Literature Review
Results:
• What they found was that boys overwhelmingly selected pink
coloring booklets with Batman on the cover, while the girls
overwhelmingly selected the blue booklets with the Bratz doll on
the cover.
• But when they chose from the illustrations to color inside the
booklets, they did choose content and color in line with previous
research on gender preference.
• They were allowed to color all three, but a significant number of
boys actively avoided coloring the fairy and in a similar fashion,
avoided colors associated with female gender, especially pink.
• Girls were much more flexible in their use of color and the
preschool-age girls imported “illegal” colors from somewhere in the
classroom to add more colors (Karniol, 2011).
Literature Review
Problems with Study:
• The problem with this study is that while it does give a gender
neutral option for the drawing component, it only gives
gender-specific colors and no gender neutral color options,
which is something that will be explored in the current study.
• A variable that is not explored in this or any of the previous
studies on gender and color, is if the exact color of pink may
has an impact and or makes a difference.
• The color of pink that is most associated with girl’s items is a pastel
pink, but it would be interesting to see if a florescent or hot pink color
was introduced as a choice, if it would become more appealing to
boys, since the color may not have as female-based in association.
Research has shown boys to like bright, dynamic colors.
Literature Review
Study on Parental/Media Influences: when considering
children’s gender role influences in relation to their
backgrounds, there is a study on both parental and
television influences, “Determinants of Children’s Sex
Stereotyping: Parental Sex-Role Traits and Television
Viewing” (Repetti, 1984).
Participants/Procedure:
• Forty families participated from a professional, white
collar population. The children were from ages 5.5 to
7.5
• 29 fathers and 40 mothers that completed Bem’s Sex
Role Inventory (BSRI), a self report measure of sextyped personality characteristics.
Literature Review
Procedure:
• A female interviewer showed the children ten
different toys and were asked if they were for
“boys” or “girls.” They were also asked about
sixteen adult occupations and asked if the
children thought they were for a man or a
woman.
• The television viewing patterns of the children
were also measured by requesting each child
indicate which television programs they
watched regularly (Repetti, 1984).
Literature Review
Results:
• They found that the mothers‘ femininity and fathers‘
masculinity are strongly associated with their children’s sex
stereotyping, but parental traits may affect the
stereotyping behavior of daughters more than sons.
• This supports the evidence from other studies indicating
that, although both boys and girls imitate the behavior of
same-sex models, boys reject opposite-sex behavior more
than girls do (Repetti, 1984, p.464).
• The amount of television programming viewed did not
correlate with stereotyping but, rather, the types of
programs did, in that children who watched more
educational television programs tended to demonstrate
less sex-stereotyped attitudes (Repetti, 1984).
• They did not find correlation with socioeconomic status,
however the study cautions that the sample was not
diverse enough in status to show a strong correlation.
Literature Review
Considerations:
• a child who is from a single parent home or
that has two working parents may have more
unsupervised television and internet use,
which could impact their views on gender
roles.
• a child in a higher economic status may have a
stay at home parent or a nanny, both typically
female or maternal influences, and their
media influences may be a bit more tailored
and supervised.
Hypotheses:
• Hypothesis 1: Home life and background information will
correlate with the content in children’s drawings.
• Hypothesis 2: Children will choose to draw within their
gender role stereotypes as well as gender neutral, if given the
option.
• Hypothesis 3: The formal elements will stay within the
boundaries of gender attributed styles, regardless of choosing
typical or atypical subject matters.
• Hypothesis 4: Boys will choose to use the color pink if it is a
bright, dynamic, neon pink rather than a pastel pink, usually
associated with girl’s items.
Method:
Participants:
• The Participants will stay somewhat close to the sample that Tuman
used, in order to get a good comparison between her results and
the results of the current study. But what will change is adding a
population of students from a lower socio-economic status to
compare these results as well.
• 300 children and their parents participating, but only from grades
one, three and five.
• Out of the sample of 300, one-hundred and fifty students will be
from a population similar to Tuman’s from a predominantly white,
middle to upper-middle class and the other 150 will be in a school
district of a lower socioeconomic status.
• Also like Tuman’s, a final sample of 250 drawings with equal
numbers of females and males at each level will be pulled at
random from the entire sample ( Tuman, 1999).
Method:
Instruments:
• There are two instruments in the procedure.
• The first instrument is in two parts and is for the parents. First, is a
brief questionnaire for the children’s parents that will cover
background information such as parent’s occupation, amount and
type of television the child watches, and how much the child is
online. Second, the parents will complete Bem’s Sex Role Inventory.
• The second instrument is going to be different than Tuman’s in that
rather than being read a pre-scripted narrative, it will be more of a
“choose your own adventure” approach, with guided instructions
and a broad range of scenarios to choose from for more diverse
outcomes in the drawings (Appendix B). This method gives the
children less visual cues than Tuman’s narrative, to see what they
create on their own.
Method:
Design and Procedure:
• Similar to Tuman’s, in advance of the study, a class list is to be
obtained from the teacher and a number will be designated to
each student with their name, age and sex documented on
the class list only (Tuman, 1999).
• The number will be on the paper given to draw on and it will
correspond with the same number on the questionnaires
administered to the parents.
• The parent’s will be given an envelope with the
corresponding number on the outside, as well, to seal their
answers for privacy.
Method:
Design and Procedure:
• The content topics to choose from will be given to the student’s during
their regularly scheduled art class.
• They will be given two separate sheets of paper.
• The first will have instructions and a choice of content topics. The teacher will also
read the instructions and choices aloud for the students and they are to circle their
content selections in that time. This is so they can refer back to their selections
when drawing so they don’t forget. The second sheet of paper will be a blank
8”x11” sheet of paper to draw on.
• They will be given 12 crayons, with
• 4 female-stereotyped colors (red, pastel pink, mauve, purple), 4 male-stereotyped
colors (light blue, dark blue, light green, dark green), and 4 gender neutral colors
(orange, brown, yellow, neon pink). The neon pink color will go into the neutral
category as a tester, to see if boys will select it, since they are likely to avoid the
pastel pink. Because there are no concrete rules on gender and color, the colors
are chosen based on previous research studies.
Method:
Design and Procedure:
• The short questionnaire was created to assess the parents’
occupation(s) and how much and what media is being viewed
at home. A few smaller variables, like if there are pets or
siblings, will be added to see if there is any relation to drawing
animals and other children, rather than being attributed only
to gender.
• The second part is the Bem’s Sex Role Inventory for the
parent(s) to complete. Though it was almost forty years ago,
it is still considered to be an empirically sound assessment. It
measures traits evenly dispersed between 20 feminine, 20
masculine, and 20 gender neutral or “filler” traits (Bem 1974).
Method:
Design and Procedure:
• The content choices were created using traits from previous
research studies on gender roles.
• The formal elements will be scored with a male and female
indexes to see if there is a relation to the content selections.
• Lastly, new variables in regards to color are being introduced,
adding gender neutral options, that will be scored on male,
female, and neutral indexes.
Method:
• Scoring:
• The short questionnaire will use both multiple choice and fill in the blank.
• The occupation will need to be judged based on the income range and
whether it is mainly a male, female or neutral profession.
• The income range will be categorized into 5 social class ranges: lower,
lower-middle, middle and upper-middle, and upper class, which are
dependent on income and how many family members there are. The
income will be determined by the median income of the parent’s
occupation(s).
• Also, it will need to be determined if it is male or female or neutrally
dominated profession, each having its own category. Both class based on
income and genders in different occupations are always changing, so they
will need to be assessed when the questionnaires are given at that time.
• The multiple choice will be pretty straightforward and answers will be
related with results of the drawings.
Method:
Scoring:
• The short questionnaire will use both multiple choice and fill in the
blank.
• The income range will be categorized into 5 social class ranges:
lower, lower-middle, middle and upper-middle, and upper class,
which are dependent on income and how many family members
there are. The income will be determined by the median income of
the parent’s occupation(s).
• It will need to be determined if it is male or female or neutrally
dominated profession, each having its own category.
• Both class based on income and genders in different occupations
are always changing, so they will need to be assessed when the
questionnaires are given at that time.
• The multiple choice will be pretty straightforward and answers will
be related with results of the drawings.
Method:
Scoring:
• BSRI:
• the parents must rate themselves on a likert scale of 1-7. The
number one indicates never or almost never true, while a seven
would indicate always or almost always true.
• There are four possibilities the answers can be categorized into:
masculine, feminine, androgynous and undifferentiated.
• A score is taken based on the answers, then is put into one of these
categories. A sex-typed masculine or feminine score is the result of
more traits belonging in one or the other category. Androgynous is
the result of scoring the median in both masculine and feminine
categories and undifferentiated is the result of extremely low
masculine and feminine traits.
Method:
Scoring:
• Drawings:
• The content items are predetermined by the researcher into three
categories of male, female, and gender neutral scenarios, based off of
previous research that identifies male and female characteristics in
subject matter from children’s drawings.
• Formal characteristics are judged with male and female indexes, also
gleaned from various studies, including, but not limited to Tuman’s.
• They will be scored in a similar fashion to the BSRI, with a score from the
female and male determinants, and categorized as being male-type,
female-type, or androgynous/atypical, but not undifferentiated, since
there is not likert scale, but rather, only male and female indexes.
• The colors used will be categorized as either male, female, or gender
neutral and the number of colors used will be recorded, as well as if boys
choose the neon pink.
•
A.1 Parent Questionnaire
•
This is a background survey as part of a study on gender roles in art. It is to help us better understand gender differences in
children’s artwork so that we can better understand how to broaden their artistic skills and teach each gender effectively.
Your answers are private and anonymous. Please return the survey sealed in the envelope provided. Thank you for your
participation and helping us to guide future curriculum!
•
Circle the best answer or fill in the blanks:
1.) What is your relation to the child?
•
Mother
•
Father
•
Main caregiver, but not mother or father
2.) Does your child live in a two parent household?
•
yes
•
no
3.) What is your occupation?__________________.
•
If applicable, partner’s occupation?________________.
4.) How many family members live in your household?___________.
5.) Do you have pets?
•
•
yes
•
no
6.) Does your child have siblings?
•
•
a. yes
b. no
•
•
•
•
•
7.) How much television would you say your child watches per week?
No t.v. at all
Hardly any, but a little
There are a few shows that my child watches, but it is limited
A decent amount, every day
•
8.) What type of shows does your child typically watch?
•
•
•
•
Educational shows, like on PBS or on Netflix
Popular shows, like on Nickelodeon or Disney Channel
A little bit of both.
Not applicable/ no t.v.
•
9.) How much time does your child spend on a computer per week?
•
•
•
•
None
Very Limited
A pretty good amount
A very decent amount
•
10.) What does your child typically use the computer for?
•
•
•
Playing games
Educational purposes
Both
•
•
Code #_________
Bem’s Sex Role Inventory
•
Rate yourself on each item, on a scale from 1 (never or almost never true) to 7 (almost always true). When you have
completed the inventory, transfer your ratings to the inventory score sheet.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
self reliant
yielding
helpful
defends own beliefs
cheerful
moody
independent
shy
conscientious
athletic
affectionate
theatrical
assertive
flatterable
happy
strong personality
loyal
unpredictable
forceful
feminine
reliable
analytical
Sympathetic
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
jealous
leadership ability
sensitive to other's needs
truthful
willing to take risks
understanding
secretive
makes decisions easily
compassionate
sincere
self-sufficient
eager to soothe hurt feelings
conceited
dominant
soft spoken
likable
masculine
warm
solemn
willing to take a stand
tender
friendly
aggressive
gullible
inefficient
acts as a leader
childlike
adaptable
individualistic
does not use harsh language
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
unsystematic
competitive
loves children
tactful
ambitious
gentle
conventional
•
•
•
Appendix B
Code #_____________
Children’s Content Guide
•
You are going to be creating a drawing today. First, you will choose the character for your drawing. Then,
you are going to select from different scenarios that your character will be in. And last, you will write a
short title that describes your drawing on the back. Circle your selections from this page and then refer to
your answers when you draw your picture.
1.) Choose your Character (circle):
Girl
Boy
2.) Choose what you will draw your character doing (circle):
Swimming at the beach
Winning a sports tournament
Flying an airplane in the sky
Having a Tea Party
Fighting a Dragon in a far away land
Playing an instrument or singing at an outdoor concert
Rescuing animals after a storm
Camping outside on a mountain
Playing dress up at a slumber party
3.) When you are finished, please write a title on the back, describing your picture.
•
Was the hot pink color used?
•
How many human motifs are in the drawing?_________
•
Are there animals depicted?
•
If yes, how many?________
Y
Y
N
N
References
Bem, S.L. (1974). The measurement of psychological androgyny. Journal of Consulting and Clinical
Pschology, 42, 155-162.
Bosacki, S.L., Varnish, A., & Akseer, S. (2008). Children’s gendered sense of self and play as
represented through drawings and written descriptions. Canadian Journal of School
Psychology, 23(2), 190-205.
Chen, W., & Kantner, L. (1996). Gender differentiation and young children’s drawings. Visual Arts Research,
22(1), 44-51.
Flannery, K., & Watson, M.W. (1995). Sex differences and gender-role differences in children’s drawings.
Studies in Art Education, 36(2), 114-122.
Iijima, M., Arisaka, O., Minamoto, F., & Arais, Y. (2001). Sex differences in children’s free drawings: a study on
girls with congenital adrenal hyperplasia. Hormones and Behavior, 40(2), 99-104.
Karniol, R. (2011). The color of children’s gender stereotypes. Sex Roles, 43, 441-458.
LoBue, V. & DeLoache, J.S. (2011). Pretty in pink: the early development of gender-stereotyped colour
preferences.
Repetti, R. (1984). Determinant’s of children’s sex stereotyping: parental sex-role traits and television
viewing. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 10, 457-468.
Tuman, D. (1998). Gender difference in form and content: The relation between preferred subject
matter
and the formal artistic characteristics of children’s drawing (Doctoral
dissertation).
Available from Proquest & Theses database. (UMI No. 9839130)
Tuman, D. (1999). Gender styles as form and content: an examination of gender stereotypes in the Subject
Preference of Children’s Drawing. Studies in Art Education, 41(1), 40-60.