Quote:
Originally posted by dtb
Stereotyping sucks, that's true, but I also think kids are by-and-large hard-wired to prefer what is often viewed as the "sterotypical" kind of toy or activity.
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Kids, in my experience, are pretty good at figuring things out and picking up on society, at least as it affects them. They know what behaviours will get them what they want. They know how to get away with stuff. And they know the roles that they are expected to play.
Someone else posted about kids almost inexplicably, at a toy store, wanting toys age-appropriate for older kids. It's the same thing here: Kids want to play the roles, often, that society makes them think that they should play. They want to play with the toys appropriate for that role. Does anyone say to a boy "You're a boy, play with trucks or everyone will think you're a queer!"? Hopefully not too much, but boys still see that adult men drive trucks and adult men use tools and adult men play football much more than adult women do. And they see the attittudes of society towards the women who do do those things?
It's almost laughable to me that, through evolution, boys are predisposed to playing with trucks. It's the things that they see, hear and experience that make them want to fill the role that society has determined is appropriate for them. Same with girls. You've never heard an old biddy make some snippy comment about some tomboy never finding a man, or being a lesbian, or whatever?
Edited to fix puncutation errors. 
