Reverse socialization? Gender beliefs between parents and their gender-liberal children in China

Family is the primary sphere for gender socialization. However, it is usually assumed that the direction of the socialization process is downward, with parents impacting children's gender beliefs. Children's agency in influencing their parents’ gender beliefs is under-investigated. For this reason, this study pays its intellectual attention to reverse gender socialization, exploring whether and how gender-liberal adult children impact their older parents’ gender beliefs. Variations in reverse gender socialization by gender pairings and other contextual factors are also examined. Using data from two waves of the China Family Panel Studies, this study reveals that reverse gender socialization exists but is veiled by group variations in China. While daughters are shown to be immune to their parents’ gender ideology and exert little reverse influence, sons’ gender beliefs are more intertwined with their parents’. Specifically, urban fathers with gender-liberal sons were found to become more gender-progressive, opposite to their rural counterparts. The findings suggest that the reverse gender socialization processes are contextually contingent in China. Traditional gender norms and expectations are still active in China, but new gender dynamics seem to be on their way.