Compared 27 two-parent families who were self-identified as sharing parenting equally, with a traditional set of 42 two-parenting families. Parents were interviewed when the child was 17 mo old, parent and child were observed when the latter was 27-28 mo old and then retested at 4 yrs of age. Gender Labeling tasks and the Sex Role Learning Index were used. Results confirm those obtained by B. Fagot and M. Leinbach (1989). Fathers affected the child’s understanding of gender. Mothers in both groups were liberal in their sex role attitudes. In shared parenting, both parents treated boys and girls in a similar manner. In egalitarian families, children adopted gender labels later and showed less sex knowledge at age 4. Differences in parenting style were reflected in the child’s cognitive understanding of gender. It was concluded that behavioral preferences were less influential than cognitive differences in the child’s gender schema.