I recently linked a post that included this research:
3] Boys and Girls play with different toys
A team at Concordia University studied almost 100 one and a half year olds and their preference for toys. The girls had a preference for dolls, and the boys had a strong preference for trucks.
Many would argue this is socialized gender behavior…but an important thing to note about one and a half year olds is that they have trouble assigning themselves and others the correct gender. In fact, the boys, because they develop slightly slower than girls, did a poorer job in gender assignment than the girls.
If we assume that playing with sex specific toys is a social construct, then it would make sense for the girls, who have a better understanding of gender, to have a stronger preference for girly toys. But what they found was the opposite. I'll repeat the results; the girls had a preference for dolls, and the boys had an even stronger preference for trucks. These results were duplicated in 9 month olds, who had an even poorer understanding of gender. (Sax, Leonard. “Why Gender Matters” 27)
Even with direct intervention from parents & teachers, who encourage gender-neutral (translation: gender opposite) play, girls will choose dolls over trucks as soon as they are given the choice. Without choice, girls will play with their trucks as though they were dolls and boys will use their dolls as if they were swords or hammers.
A team at Concordia University studied almost 100 one and a half year olds and their preference for toys. The girls had a preference for dolls, and the boys had a strong preference for trucks.
Many would argue this is socialized gender behavior…but an important thing to note about one and a half year olds is that they have trouble assigning themselves and others the correct gender. In fact, the boys, because they develop slightly slower than girls, did a poorer job in gender assignment than the girls.
If we assume that playing with sex specific toys is a social construct, then it would make sense for the girls, who have a better understanding of gender, to have a stronger preference for girly toys. But what they found was the opposite. I'll repeat the results; the girls had a preference for dolls, and the boys had an even stronger preference for trucks. These results were duplicated in 9 month olds, who had an even poorer understanding of gender. (Sax, Leonard. “Why Gender Matters” 27)
Even with direct intervention from parents & teachers, who encourage gender-neutral (translation: gender opposite) play, girls will choose dolls over trucks as soon as they are given the choice. Without choice, girls will play with their trucks as though they were dolls and boys will use their dolls as if they were swords or hammers.
I heard about a University President [I believe it was Harvard] who believed in "gender neutrality" [the overarching philosophy in acadamia is left of left] so he gave his daughter toy trucks with which to play. So she did.
She made a "daddy truck" and a "mommy truck".
So much for that theory.
