Quote:
Originally Posted by CliffFletcher
Male and female children, even at very young ages, tend to demonstrate different characteristics as groups. Five year old boys play differently than five year old girls. Boys are rowdier. Girls tend to be more eager to please. Boys hit each other a lot. Girls exclude children they are mad at.
Of course, these are not absolute. Any given child may defy the norm. But the norms are there. And they can't be accounted for entirely by environment and socialization. Even among siblings you'll often see marked differences between boys a girls. I have twins - a boy and a girl - who we've raised in as close to an identical environment as it's possible to raise two humans in, and without any encouragement of traditional gender roles. But they are very, very different kids. And their differences map closely to those normative differences we tend to see between boys and girls. The boy impatient and delighted by things smashing other things. The girl sensitive to the expectations of others and eager to please.
And if you want to see those differences in action, watch a soccer practice with a team of 6-7 year old boys, and then watch one with a team of 6-7 year old girls. The difference is dramatic.
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But is this a result of nature or nurture? What would the variance in externalized action be if all were raised in a gender-neutral environment?
Saying something is a certain way with without accounting for variances in environment says nothing about the result.