ABSTRACT
This chapter explores how gender and parenting interact, and why some of the interactions are problematic. It focuses on ethical issues these interactions raise for parents of young children, both when children don’t conform to gendered expectations with respect to their identity or their gender expression, and when they do, because gender roles can limit opportunities for both parents and children. It also briefly explores the impact that gendered expectations have on adult children in their interactions with their parents. There is no discussion of ethical dilemmas about sex or gender and fetuses (such as sex-selective abortion), as the chapter is limited to topics concerning interactions of parents and children once the latter are born. Although the chapter is about gender and the family, it concentrates on issues that arise in OECD countries, particularly those in which a considerable proportion of mothers of young dependent children work outside the home.
