The notion that the communication styles of men and women differ is currently a popular topic of discussion. Tannen (1990) even claims that it is reasonable to assume that boys and girls grow up in what are essentially different cultures. If so, talk between men and women can be viewed as cross-cultural communication. Tannen documents gender differences in both the communicative content and the communicative behavior of second grade American children who are already enculturated into their respective gender`s communication styles. When instructed to discuss $quot;something important,$quot; two boys fidget constantly in their chairs, avoid direct eye contact with each other, and converse in one-sentence exchanges about what they would like to play. In contrast, two girls sit close together, maintain constant eye contact, and converse in large blocks of speech about traumatic events in the lives of family members (Tannen, 1990). These children clearly have different notions about how to talk to each other and what is important enough to talk about. Gender differences are marked by ways of talking infused with different views of what is worth saying. Of special interest are differences in how boys and girls represent the contents of social life. Little is known about the beginnings of gender differences in children`s social representations. We assume here that children s pretend play and stories reflect the different ways boys and girls represent the world, especially differences in how they imagine physical and human relationships, in what they desire and in what they fear. In this article, we explore early gender differences in the fictional narratives of American preschoolers. The themes, settings, characterizations, actions, and emotional content in the stories of 16 four year-old children are examined in order to identify early gender disparities in children`s world views as revealed in their story representations.