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The Gallup Brain: Gender Expectations, Part II

The Gallup Brain: Gender Expectations, Part II

by Jennifer Robison

Second in a two-part series on gender-oriented questions in the Gallup Brain.

The first article in this series noted that until late in the century, most Gallup Poll questions about girls concerned appearance or marriage. There are many more questions about boys, young men, and sons in Gallup's historical database than there are about girls or daughters -- but as is the case with daughters, many of the older questions about sons are associated with conventional social roles. More specifically, most of the questions on boys are about work.

Paper Boys

During and shortly after World War II, most of Gallup's questions about real or hypothetical sons pertained to their potential military training. But in 1942, Gallup briefly delved into what was then the most traditional boyhood job, asking, "If you had a son who wanted to deliver newspapers, would you permit him to do so?" Eighty-nine percent of Americans said they would. Gallup asked if delivering papers is helpful to a boy, and 87% said it was. Why? Character development was important to many respondents: of those who thought delivering papers was helpful, 31% gave answers that had to do with making sons more responsible. Among those who thought it was harmful, many cited the types of neighborhoods the boy would have to deliver papers to, and others said it would adversely affect the amount of sleep the boy would get.

When He Grows Up

Since the 1930s, Gallup has asked the public what line of work they would recommend for young men (and since the 1950s, young women). In 1945, Gallup asked, "If you had a son with ability and he could have any training he wanted, what business, profession, trade or occupation would you most like to have him take up if he wanted your advice?" The most common answer was a career in medicine, mentioned by 24% of respondents. Another popular field, mentioned by 13%, was engineering. Though engineering jobs have always been lucrative, the war and the rise of the military-industrial complex highlighted the country's need for engineers. (In 1953, a full 19% recommended engineering.)

Eight percent of respondents in 1945 recommended that their sons become lawyers, and 6% thought they should be farmers. (Comparatively, in 2001, Gallup asked, "Supposing a young man came to you for advice on choosing a line of work or career. What kind of work or career would you recommend?" Only 3% recommended a career as a lawyer, and less than 1% mentioned "farmer.")

Occasionally, Gallup has asked about specific career choice recommendations for hypothetical sons or young men in general. A 1957 question about media jobs suggested the growing popularity of television. The public was asked if a son could "get a job with the same starting salary on a newspaper, a magazine, with a television or a radio station, which one of these places would you like to have him go to work?" Three percent said "magazine," 8% said "radio," 25% said "newspaper," and 44% said "TV." The responses make sense -- between 1947 and 1957, American television ownership had increased from about 10% to about 85%.

Rotten Politicians?

In 1944, for the first time, Gallup asked whether Americans would want a son to go into politics as a life's work. That year saw a low percentage -- only 19%. When the 69% of those who wouldn't recommend politics to a son were asked to say why not, responses were highly varied -- the most frequent reason, given by 6%, was that politics are corrupt and unethical. In fact, Americans have never considered politics to be a first-choice career option for their sons. However, in a January 1965 poll, taken just over a year after President John F. Kennedy's assassination, 36% of Americans said they would like to see their son go into politics. Of the 54% who wouldn't recommend politics that year, the most common response category, given by 12%, was that a political career lacks opportunity and/or security. By 1973, however, the percentage who would like to see their son enter politics as a profession had fallen back to 23%.


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