RE: The Social Birds & the Bees: The socialization of gender, a toy store ethnography
Hello there @alchemage :)
This topic will never cease to fascinate me. You presented it very well and I like how you made the perspective from which you were going to showcase this topic clear from the very beginning. I have written about this in past on my Steemit blog and, coincidentally, will include a short discussion on it on my next post.
Not long ago I came across a study on how individual's gender identities are already shaped by their parents' language as soon as they're born Ref.. Of course, this study dates from the 70's and things like "oh, she will help you with the household chores" and "he will play rugby" were said. Still, just the other day in a coffee bar I witnessed a grandmother carrying a baby boy outside in her arms while say "let's go out and flirt with the pretty girls".
I am now interested in looking into the works of Judith Lorber :) By the way, there is another Judith (Judith Butler) who examines this topic very profoundly as well. She sees gender as a "performance". I believe you would be interested in her works :)
But, since you have touched on the topic of toys, I would like to mention here some very interesting studies involving toys and primates. New evidence points to the possibility that boy's and girl's toys preference seem to result from factors other than "modern sex-biased parental behavior and gender socialization". ref., ref.
Thank you for this post. I will definitely look into some of the references you provided here :)
All the best to you,
Abigail
Thank you very much for your kind words. I'll have to give your post a read when I have some time, I'm pretty busy working in my lab and preparing for school in September.
Language certainly is a major factor in how we develop our identities, that's what I was mentioning with the baby talk for girls and tough talk for boys. It's a very obvious correlation, so it blows my mind that people don't understand or accept this idea! Thanks for the study link. :)
I'll have to look into your studies about toys, are you saying they show that socialization is not what brings children to prefer a toy or not?
Those studies were conducted by Elizabeth et al. (2014) & Bown and Disxon (2000). They indicate that this appears to be the case, yes. In an attempt to eliminate the influence of socialization in children's preference for toys, they turned to our closest ancestors to check it all out. The results showed that the males preferred and spent more time with toys like cars and planes, and the females with dolls. It seems that socialization is not the only factor at play when it comes to which toy boys and girls enjoy playing with.
All the best to you!