Prue DeAraugo
RyanaGender Differences - Nature or Nuture?
September 4th 2008 07:26
“I am never going to dress my girl in pink or buy her dolls.” I announced in my staunch feminist days, before I became a mother in the real world.
However, that has changed a bit since having a baby, mainly because most baby clothes come in either pink or blue, and even when I buy my daughter jeans and fleeces they seem to have glitter on them.
It has always been my belief, that gender differences are a result of nurture, rather than nature. However, a psychologist at CNN, Anita Sethi, believes gender differences are evident from birth.
She came to this conclusion based on a study, which was carried out among 18-month-old infants. According to the research, when girls and boys are shown pictures of dolls or trucks, most girls prefer to look at the dolls, while the boys prefer the pictures of trucks.
Other research suggests, that girls tend to talk earlier than boys, and boys tend to walk earlier than girls. Boys prefer to watch mechanical motion, while girls prefer to look at faces.
I am certainly not convinced; I think 18 months is plenty of time to stereotype a baby. When I was studying psychology, I remember watching an interesting video of an experiment where adults were asked to interact with a baby. The baby was dressed in either pink or blue regardless of their actual gender. If the adult thought they were interacting with a girl they, tended to cuddle and talk to them. However, when they thought they were interacting with a boy, they would pick up the toy trucks and make Brrm noises or bounce them up and down.
Interestingly, when interviewed later, all the adults thought they treated both the boys and girls the same.
If adults spend more time talking to baby girls, it is not surprising girls will pick up language quicker than boys. If boys are more likely to be bounced around, or shown trucks, it is no wonder that by 18 months that is what they prefer to look at.
I only have one child, a girl she is now 14 months old. I talk to her, and read to her; sometimes I bounce her up and down, and play with her trucks. So far, she is trying to talk and is quite social, but she also likes pushing her toys around. I don’t have a boy but if I did I would definitely read and talk to them. When my nephew was a toddler, he was just as social as my daughter.
What do you think? Are there natural differences between the genders or do we create these differences by the way we interact with them?
However, that has changed a bit since having a baby, mainly because most baby clothes come in either pink or blue, and even when I buy my daughter jeans and fleeces they seem to have glitter on them.
It has always been my belief, that gender differences are a result of nurture, rather than nature. However, a psychologist at CNN, Anita Sethi, believes gender differences are evident from birth.
She came to this conclusion based on a study, which was carried out among 18-month-old infants. According to the research, when girls and boys are shown pictures of dolls or trucks, most girls prefer to look at the dolls, while the boys prefer the pictures of trucks.
Other research suggests, that girls tend to talk earlier than boys, and boys tend to walk earlier than girls. Boys prefer to watch mechanical motion, while girls prefer to look at faces.
I am certainly not convinced; I think 18 months is plenty of time to stereotype a baby. When I was studying psychology, I remember watching an interesting video of an experiment where adults were asked to interact with a baby. The baby was dressed in either pink or blue regardless of their actual gender. If the adult thought they were interacting with a girl they, tended to cuddle and talk to them. However, when they thought they were interacting with a boy, they would pick up the toy trucks and make Brrm noises or bounce them up and down.
Interestingly, when interviewed later, all the adults thought they treated both the boys and girls the same.
If adults spend more time talking to baby girls, it is not surprising girls will pick up language quicker than boys. If boys are more likely to be bounced around, or shown trucks, it is no wonder that by 18 months that is what they prefer to look at.
I only have one child, a girl she is now 14 months old. I talk to her, and read to her; sometimes I bounce her up and down, and play with her trucks. So far, she is trying to talk and is quite social, but she also likes pushing her toys around. I don’t have a boy but if I did I would definitely read and talk to them. When my nephew was a toddler, he was just as social as my daughter.
What do you think? Are there natural differences between the genders or do we create these differences by the way we interact with them?
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Comment by Michaelie
Flick Wit
I completely agree, 18 months is a lot of time for genderisation. I really reckon that psychologist is an idiot. Her evidence is defective, and why strive to reinforce gender binaries anyway? How does that help society?
I do think it's nurture over nature, as with most things, though nature of course often defies expectations when people are socialised to fit a certain role. I guess the nurturing has to complement the nature in a positive way, without a 'destination' in mind.
You sound like a good mother.
Michaelie
Comment by Sara Dobson
My Turn
Thanks for your comments. I think gender rolse are still reinforeced even in this day.
Thanks for the compliment. I try to do my best by my daughter.
Comment by Rachel Henwood - Freelance Writer
Great comments and I agree. I think society plays a very big part in how our children grow up and turn out and that if you have a boy you have to try especially hard to stop them turning into a terror!
I wrote an article about just this on my blog if you're interested, it's called Battle of the Baby Sexes.
Rachel