Gender Segregation in Early-Childhood Social Play among the Boﬁ Foragers and Boﬁ Farmers in Central Africa

Oct 15, 2026

Examines gender segregation in early-childhood social play within two small-scale Central African cultures: Boﬁ farmers and Boﬁ foragers. Based on observations of 56 children aged one to four years, the study analyzes how gender and age relate to patterns of same-gender play. Results show three- to four-year-olds become more gender-segregated than one- to two-year-olds, with boys tending to play with boys. Cultural differences intensify segregation more among Boﬁ farmers than Boﬁ foragers.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages24

Reading Time1 h 0 min

AccessFree to download

Gender segregation in early-childhood social play

Patterns in early development and prior research

Cross-cultural comparison between Boﬁ farmers and Boﬁ foragers

Biological and cultural perspectives on segregation

Gender Segregation in Early-Childhood Social Play among the Boﬁ Foragers and Boﬁ Farmers in Central Africa s Hillary N. Fouts, Rena A. Hallam, and Swapna Purandare Gender segregation in early-childhood social play is a pervasive pattern in North America, and child-development scholars have suggested it is a human universal. But very few researchers have looked at gender segregation in small-scale societies, particularly those of hunter-gatherers, whom the authors here call foragers. The authors present their observations of ﬁfty-six, one-to four-year-old children living in two small-scale cultures—Boﬁ farmers and Boﬁ foragers—in Central Africa. They examined gender and age variation in the social play of these two groups and found that three-to four-year-olds became more segregated by gender than one-to two-year-olds and that boys in particular showed a tendency to play with other boys. The authors also found that cultural differences became more manifest as gender segregation grew more prominent among the children of Boﬁ farmers than Boﬁ foragers. Key words: Central Africa, early childhood, gender, gender segregation, sex segregation, social play In early childhood, children tend to play with others of their gender, strikingly so. In classrooms, boys commonly congregate in particular areas (i.e., the block area), and girls prefer to play together in distinct activity centers (i.e., dramatic play) (Martin 1998; La Freniere, Strayer, and Gauthier 1984; Pellegrini and Perlmuter 1989). Many studies in North America illustrate that, after infancy, children show preferences toward same-gender social and play partners (Fabes 1994; Fabes, Martin, and Hanish 2003; Hoffman and Powlishta 2001; La Freniere, Strayer, and Gautheir 1984; Maccoby and Jacklin 1987; Martin and Fabes 2001; Pellegrini 2004; Serbin et al. 1994). Such studies indicate that by three years of age, children generally play with children of the same gender, a phenomenon often described as the emergence of gender or sex segregation. In studies of nonhuman animals, researchers refer to gender or sex segregation as social seg- 333 American Journal of Play, volume 5, number 3 © The Strong Contact Hillary N. Fouts [at hfouts@utk.edu](at hfouts@utk.edu) regation (e.g., Conradt 1998), which seems ﬁtting because as children congregate with play partners ofthe same gender and, consequently, form same-gender play groups, the social experiences of girls and boys grow increasingly distinct. In this study, we will call the phenomenon gender segregation, and we more often use the term gender than the term sex, to emphasize its biocultural nature. Few researchers have conducted studies of gender segregation in small-scale societies, and these few show the same pattern of gender segregation emerging in early childhood and becoming most prominent by adolescence (Whiting and Edwards 1988; Munroe and Romney 2006). Maccoby (1998) and Maccoby and Jacklin (1974) proposed that gender segregation occurs universally, explaining itas a product of early socialization through play that leads to a gender-segregated social landscape. Maccoby (1998) also posits that gender segregation seems driven by the preferences of children rather than adults and that it more often appears in settings where children are free to make their own choices about who they play with (e.g., free-play times, school playgrounds). According to Pellegrini (2009), gender segregation and the formation of same-gender relationships in childhood affect social status and the ability to compete for mates in adulthood. He describes how, in gender-segregated play, boys and girls learn and practice the accepted social roles of men and women in their societies. Thus, from an evolutionary perspective, he considers the emergence of gender segregation a human universal representing an adapted propensity that leads males and females to form relationships with members of their own gender. The gender-segregation studies i

FAQs

What does the study investigate about children’s social play?

It investigates how gender and age shape gender segregation in early-childhood social play in two Central African cultures.

How do the findings change with age?

Children aged three to four show stronger gender segregation than children aged one to two, including a specific tendency for boys to play with boys.

How do culture and subsistence strategies influence gender segregation?

Cultural differences become more apparent as segregation grows, with gender segregation increasing more among Boﬁ farmers than among Boﬁ foragers.

Oct 15, 2026

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