Infants prefer toys typed to their gender, says study
Children as young as 9 months-old prefer to play with toys specific to their own gender, according to a new study. The research suggests the possibility that boys and girls follow different developmental trajectories with respect to selection of gender-typed toys and that there is both a biological and a developmental-environmental components to the sex differences seen in object preferences. Ref. Source 7v.
This has been a long standing debate and even with studies like this I just don't know what to believe. I do feel that if you give a baby boy girly looking toys then he will play with it if there is nothing else. For him its just colors, etc.
Edited: Stacia on 25th Jul, 2016 - 3:36pm
Having a son myself I am not convinced by this. My child's favorite blanket is his hello kitty blanket (Which he stole from my wife). He is happy with most kind of toys. He does however imprint from me and that is the more swords and guns type and he is also more exposed to stories like The Avengers, Spiderman etc but he also loves things like Little Mermaid and Frozen. The opposite is also true for some of his friends at school. They are girl who either dresses like princesses but like to play in the dirt and with the swords.
I do not want to attack the legitimacy of the article, but those babies of nine months, what have they been exposed to? What was imprinted on them in the first nine months of their lives?
I know there are some who try and imprint a gender role on people or to find out if there is some sort of genetic coding that automatically steers us into a direction. I say it it nonsense from personal experience. In any way, what does it matter? Are we going to start living our lives according to what a study says?
"Sorry son, this study says you are more likely to become a tennis player and therefore I will force you into that direction. Nevermind your dreams, goals and ambitions. The scientist says so, so it must be true!"