ABSTRACT
Very early in development, children learn to identify themselves and others by the gender labels that have been assigned to each individual. As Fagot and Leinbach (1993) describe, “self-relevance and the importance society places on our standards and expectations for males and females suffuse the gender distinction with affect, making it what is perhaps the most salient parameter of social categorization for the young child” (p. 205). Thus, understanding when children learn gender labels and how labeling might influence or be influenced by children’s play is a foundational aspect of child development.
