ABSTRACT
Childhood is a social category found across all human cultures. The study of childhood in the past is a somewhat nascent field of archaeological research, one that finds its roots in the postprocessual program of the 1980s and 1990s, on the heels of the increasing emphasis on social constructions of gender, identity, the body, and other broad topics in the archaeological literature. Children as young as eighteen months are able to identify differences in how boys and girls look, act, and dress, and it becomes important to children to behave appropriately according to their perception of cultural rules regarding gender roles. The analysis of Victorian children and their toys is therefore intimately connected with the study of Victorian gender roles. The sentimentalization of childhood was also reinforced by religious leaders, who were increasingly marginalized by capitalism and secular concerns.
