Do you think young children are biologically created or raised to like 'gender specific' toys?

[Laura]

I mean everyone notices little girls playing with pink princess things and little boys with cars and superheroes and things like that. I'm wondering if they are biologically programmed to like those things or if they are 'taught' to like those things by their parents and media. Like if you see cave children with no influences of toys and gender stereotypes will they still like those things? Is it really a problem if a boy likes to at with barbies and a girl likes to play with cars? I mean they're just objects. I doubt it will influence their brain development very much. When I was a little kid i was pretty much non-stereotypical. If I was bored I played with whatever was lying around, barbies or cars of whatever. And I didn't have a problem with what kind of clothes I wore, as long as I had fun. Even now I don't like what it takes to fit in. So if I wasn't all about playing with princess things when I was a little girl then does that mean everyone else is brainwashed to? I didn't watch that much tv back then. So what do you guys think?

[.....]

A psychologist did an experiment on this. Yes, children are conditioned by parents to like gender specific toys.

[Saved]

No, I think children are raised to like "gender specific' things. Children are children and they will play with whatever toy they can get their hands on.

It only becomes a problem when parents feel that the child will grow up homosexual if they allow boys to play with "girl toys and girls to play with "boy toys". That is silly. When the parent only invests in "gender specific" toys that's all the child knows unless there's some sort of outside influence, in my opinion.

Funny how you ask this- I was watching a video on Youtube the other day. It was a cartoon from the 70s where a young boy asked his father for a baby doll. Because he had these preconceived notions that it's wrong for boys to play with dolls for stereotypical reasons, he thought it would be better to just force the boy with play with baseball stuff, and all of these things boys are "supposed to play with". In the end, the grandmother talked with the father that a boy wanting to own a baby doll is no different than a girl wanting one: to feel what it is like to nurture and care for something. I'll post a link.

[Joe]

Nature or nurture? I'm afraid the answer is going to be a bit of both.

I say "I'm afraid" because we tend to like things to be clear cut. But they seldom are.

Very young children don't care what they play with so long as it's interesting and fun. That's because very young children haven't been conditioned yet to know what's 'right' for their gender.

But our society & our culture often has clear ideas about what it wants each gender to be. These ideas are often based on traditional gender roles where the male is the provider/protector & the female is the carer/home maker. You mentioned cave children, which is handy since it's the stone age where human gender roles took root & evolved over millions of years; so much so that they're still part of our genetic makeup today.

As provider/protector the male had to win over adversity to ensure his family has the things it needs, hence boys having superhero toys, or toys where he develops his ability to take charge of his environment. As a carer the female had to develop nurturing things, hence playing with dolls & playing house to develop her ability to deal with childcare & run the home.

As time passed & society changed the gender roles remained because they worked. So the gender roles, & the preparation for them in how children played (& what they were encouraged to do while playing) became entrenched in tradition.

Nowadays it's not so clear cut since many gender roles are now interchangeable. There's absolutely nothing wrong with a little boy playing with a princess doll dressed in pink, except our culture is somewhat uncomfortable with that, so they call the doll an action man & steer his play to more traditionally boyish things. Likewise a little girl can play with toy cars, but that's less conventional too. So the boys & girls are encouraged to play with more traditionally gender specific toys, and they do since it keeps the grown ups happy & all children basically want to feel they're accepted & 'normal' so they do what they're told. And a lot of children DO enjoy the gender specific toys since they're designed & based around very basic human gender traits, that is, they basically 'work'.

You asked if playing with toys designed for the opposite gender was a problem, & if it would affect brain development. The simple answer is no, it wouldn't. Well not the playing with the toys. What might make a difference is how everyone that child comes into contact with treats that child as a result of it's choice of plaything. It's in it's relations with others, & how it measures up to the expectations of others, basic human relations, that will have the biggest result on how the child develops socially.

Times are changing, & gender roles are becoming less rigidly defined. You say you rebelled against the accepted norms & you turned out OK. If enough people do the same the evolution of social training of children will adapt to take account of it. Children might have greater freedoms. But the genetic makeup of, & differences between males & females that were essential to the survival of the human race will probably never change. And they'll probably always exert big influences on the toy choices children make.

[DJango]

Some may call it brain washing but the fact of the matter is that there IS A DIFFERENCE between men and women. What is so difficult about understanding that? Since there IS A DIFFERENCE between men and women then isn't it logical to train up a child in preparation for his or her role in society? Toys are often training tools as well. If a woman is going to be doing hair, matching clothing, cooking, and cleaning when she gets older then what is the harm for preparing her to do so when she is a child? If a man's role is going to be more physically demanding, operating heavy machinery, and in fact fighting wars in combat, then is it not logical to prepare him for that role as well? Or should we wait until they are required to perform these functions and then give them 15 min webinar or something? What is wrong with people today where they even need to ask if boys should play with boy toys and girls should play with doll.
When women are required to register with the selective service system and society considers preparing them to fight in combat, then it may make sense to condition them as children by playing with GI Joe dolls.