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One of the arguments people often make about gender is “I had a kid, and I never treated him\/her at all differently because of her\/his sex, and yet look how little Brad loves playing with toy guns\/little Janet loves wearing dresses!” This argument was even used by soon-to-be-former Harvard President Larry Summers in his famous (or infamous) 2005 speech<\/a>:<\/p>\n So, I think, while I would prefer to believe otherwise, I guess my experience with my two and a half year old twin daughters who were not given dolls and who were given trucks, and found themselves saying to each other, look, daddy truck is carrying the baby truck, tells me something.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n I’m sure that there are some little girls who are totally femme, and some little boys who are totally butch. But my bet is that most kids fall somewhere in between, and adults then pick out from a range of available traits to illustrate whatever gender storyline they’re already inclined to believe in.<\/p>\n Sydney’s Traits That Prove Girlhood is Innate<\/strong><\/u> Sydney’s Traits That Prove Boyhood is Innate<\/strong><\/u> At two and a half, Sydney is already a complex person, and she gets more so every day. If she had parents who were interested in gender-typing her (which she doesn’t), there’d be enough evidence points to support a “girls are just naturally girlish” argument. But if she were a boy, but otherwise exactly the same<\/em> in personality, there’d also be plenty to support a “boys are just naturally boyish” argument.<\/p>\n I’m sure that there are girls who are all girl, and boys who are all boys. But I think most girls and boys – like most of humanity – lives somewhere in the enormous overlapping middle. A lot of the time, when adults look at little kids, they just see a mirror reflecting back their own gender beliefs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" One of the arguments people often make about gender is “I had a kid, and I never treated him\/her at all differently because of her\/his sex, and yet look how little Brad loves playing with toy guns\/little Janet loves wearing … Continue reading
\n* Instinctive attraction to “my little ponies.”
\n* Adorably affectionate with baby sister – she strokes Maddox’s cheek, kisses her head, and so on.
\n* Likes mermaids and barbies (and mermaid barbies).
\n* Likes Dora.
\n* Physically very pretty.
\n* Like to cuddle.
\n* No interest in trucks at all.
\n* Likes having her nails painted.<\/p>\n
\n* Likes dinosaurs. Likes waving them in the air and saying “grrr!”
\n* Loves <\/em>pirates. In Sydney’s view, pirates are the pinnacle of all culture. Yaar!
\n* Loves being roughhoused by Daddy.
\n* If there’s a high place or a dangerous perch, Sydney is there.
\n* Favorite movie: Monsters, Inc<\/em>.
\n* Mad dashes for freedom and independence in supermarket.
\n* Pretends that a ruler is a weapon (a sword).
\n* Mostly indifferent to clothing, dresses, etc. But she does like shoes – especially bright-colored high-top sneakers.<\/p>\n