Why is it so important to feminists that 'gender' is a product of social influence?

[doodlebugjim]

e.g. Why do feminists insist that the reason girls play with dolls is purely because of pressure from parents, peers, marketing etc. and nothing to do with genes, hormones etc?

[qpistol]

because they weren't allowed to play with dolls when they were young and have a hard time getting over the resentment

[McSchmeezer]

Practicing having babies, for people who have babies, isn't natural?

[Molly B]

They see traditional femininity and masculinity as a problem that must be fixed. If its social influence, then it can be easily altered. The latter, however, is not as easily manipulated.

[muziq girl]

There were three phases of feminism
1. the sufragettes, who fought for the vote
2. femists who believed that women and men should be socialy and economically equal
3. feminists who wanted to be socially economically equal whilst still maintaining femininity.

You are talking about the 2 wave of feminism.... the marketing for dolls was thought of by males, to them, this was just a way to encourage them into the domestic direction. They believed the same with bra, hence they became known as the bra burners. To them the doll would be socially acceptable if the dolls was "lawyer barbie" or somthing

I hope that answered ur question

[Gavin R]

There has been a very long argument of the past 150 years or so over the relative strength of environment (culture) vs. genes in the development of human behavior. Both sides concede that both influences are important, but the real argument is over which has more.'
Modern science has revealed phenotypes. Two children will never have exactly the same genes, but they can be close. Their exposed to the same environment (upbringing), but child A is more sensitive to certain chemicals in the environment, which causes certain genes to become 'activated." Child B may be exposed to a slightly different brand of chemicals - maybe mom gave up smoking before she had child B - and thus for this child different genes will be activated.
It was a cherished belief among feminists that culture ruled everything and that gener was neutral. This is not the case, certainly not in anatomy: women have smaller lungs than men, even when they are the same size, women can tolerate only half the alcohol men can, due to different liver enzymes, and then there are the genetic diseases that only strike males of females. Research has shown that girls like to play with dolls (although of course there are some that like to play with trucks), and boys prefer toys that move. There can be gender equality (each gender being free to pursue whatever career he/she desires, but gender neutrality does not exist.

[roundsoap967]

Feminists are angry people. They have always been and always will be.

Save America: Avoid a feminist.

[J.]

The fact that a lot of gender behavoirs ARE socially influenced is fascinating, to feminists and psychologists alike, especially developmental psychologists. But basically, the idea of any behavoir like playing with dolls is 100% innate is pretty laughable. You're proposed a "likes the colour pink" gene? Or a "play's football" gene? There may be innate traits towards certain types of behavoirs, but don't forget half your genes came from your opposite sex parent, so again, unlikely to be 100% genetic. Hormones are more likely, but sex hormones do not determine human behavoir.

Basically, with the Evolutionary Paradigm being the new big thing, people like to pretend social conditioning has no effect on us - not at all true, as shown in many studies. Gender behavoirs are not innate - because they are not universal, and they are far too complex to be so simply explained. It is important to everyone not to ignore this, feminism aside.

[Cassius]

Because its the way they want the world to be. They like to think as women as men who happen to have boobies.

[stripedspider]

Because if one acknowledges that something comes from Nature, that means they might be wrong. It hasn't been proven one way or the other on that count because children are rarely allowed to choose their activities for themselves.

The only way to prove or disprove this theory is for the children to be provided with several different options of what toys to play with, and then for the adult in charge to get out of the way. (Watching to ensure their safety, of course)