According to the textbook, Lawrence Kohlberg developed this theory and states that "children cannot be influenced by external experiences until they develop cognitively." (123) As the textbook states, a child cannot be influenced by the external environment because “he or she must first gain some awareness or understanding of gender” (Helwig, 1998). Their concepts about gender will change, but they will go through the three stages of gender understanding, which are gender identity, gender stability and gender constancy. (124) Gender identity occurs when around age 3 children know they are a boy or a girl and can identify with other boys and girls.(124) I think I can relate to this, I'm not too sure as I don't I can I don't remember my life when I was three years old. However my three year old cousin was able to identify that she was a girl and could distinguish between a girl and a boy. Gender stability occurs when a child knows that they will always be a boy or a girl. (124) Gender constancy is when a child knows that no matter what activity he does, he will still be a boy or a girl and will never change. It is when they think of themselves as immutable that they begin to engage in both familiar and socially expected gender behaviors. (124) I can't really relate to this theory, as I don't remember when I realized I would be a girl forever. However, because I was a girl and would always be a girl, I understood and