Toy choice among boys, girls a matter of monkey business

Capt'n Midnight

http://www.scienceblog.com/community/article552.html

Though the monkeys had no concept of a "boy" toy and a "girl" toy, they still showed the same gender preferences in playing with the toys, Alexander says. That is, compared to female monkeys, male monkeys spent more time with "boy" toys, and the female monkeys, compared to their male counterparts, spent more time with "girl" toys, she notes.

"Masculine toys and feminine toys," Alexander says, "are clearly categories constructed by people. However, our finding that male and female vervet monkeys show similar preferences for these toys as boys and girls do, suggests that what makes a 'boy toy' and a 'girl toy' is more than just what society dictates – it suggests that there may be perceptual cues that attract males or females to particular objects such as toys."

....


Males, she says, may therefore have evolved preferences for objects that invite movement.

On the other hand, females may have evolved preferences for object color, relating to their roles as nurturers, Alexander notes. A preference for red or pink – the color of the doll and pot – has been proposed to elicit female behaviors toward infants that enhance infant survival, such as contact.

Alexander says that the stereotyping of toys in society probably unknowingly builds on these types of innate preferences.

Doctor Funfrock

Wow!

I'd love a monkey. But he would have to be a Boy monkey. It would be like The Simpsons. ww)

Capt'n Midnight

Originally posted by Doctor Funfrock
Wow!

I'd love a monkey. But he would have to be a Boy monkey. It would be like The Simpsons. ww)

you do realise that monkeys can't be house trained ...

Syth

Well this all comes down to the nature vs nurture debate, and clearly gives evidence to the nature side of the debate. Personally I'm not suprised that maleness or femaleness is biologically influenced.

Doctor Funfrock

Originally posted by Capt'n Midnight
you do realise that monkeys can't be house trained ...

You can you just have to break its spirit!!

taby

This is like sumthin i heard ages ago:

A researcher decided to conduct an experiment. He had a very young daughter ( baby age ) and a young boy round same age and as he brought them up ( from very young age) he dressed them alike and gave them both the same exact toys. He would leave them and when he came back the girl would have the dolls with her and the boy would be with the cars or the more boyish toys.

:-)

I still think though that nature may dictate that we act like a boy of girl but nuture dictates our morals and our belives and who we are as a person.

:-)


Without nuture we can't grow as person but without nature we wouldn't be here.

:-)

Stark

That would be in keeping with what transgendered people report. Even though they were raised as their body's gender, they would still gravitate towards the toys of their brain's gender.

taby

That would be in keeping with what transgendered people report. Even though they were raised as their body's gender, they would still gravitate towards the toys of their brain's gender.

I think that's a great point :-D

simu

Look at the library of that uni! Why does this make me take that report less than seriously?

Back on topic, I'd say any such tendencies in humans would have little influence compared to the dictature of whatever society one happens to be living in. The level of rubbish about "what girls/boys should do" and so on spouted by some parents is astonishing.

DriftingRain

I think that's a great point :-D

]
Me too!




~DR~

simu

Originally posted by Stark
That would be in keeping with what transgendered people report. Even though they were raised as their body's gender, they would still gravitate towards the toys of their brain's gender.

The only problem with that is that different toys are considered suitable for boys and girls in different cultures.

I remember , in France, they think Lego is for boys tho' for me it's the most gender neutral toy imaginable! And that's a country that isn't all that different from Ireland.

If they really think such differences exist, they should try searching for more solid reasons like examining how exactly, boys and girls perceive colour, shapes etc in the brain, what chemical changes take place at perception and so on.

I'm not denying the possiblity of differences between male and female brains but the way it's presented in popular media is "so that's why women should be housewives and men should get to do all the top jobs".

Syth

The only problem with that is that different toys are considered suitable for boys and girls in different cultures.

While there may be some grey areas of toys (such as Lego), there are some pretty clear cut girls toys/boys toys divisions. For example Action Man is clearly aimed at boys and is what most people call a 'boy's toy'.

"so that's why women should be housewives and men should get to do all the top jobs".

Saying that there are gender specific roles is a statement from ethics. But just because men and women are different (I'm not saying one is better than the other, just that they are not the same), doesn't mean we should treat them different.

There is a difference between the way some things are and the way the should be.

presented in popular media

Aye, sometimes people are idiots.

seamus

Originally posted by simu
Look at the library of that uni! Why does this make me take that report less than seriously?

Because they called their library after one of their former Presidents? If they called it the Regan library would it be any better?

Back on topic, I'd say any such tendencies in humans would have little influence compared to the dictature of whatever society one happens to be living in. The level of rubbish about "what girls/boys should do" and so on spouted by some parents is astonishing.

That's the crux of the nature -v- nurture debate. How do you know which has more effect, if either. A guy can be brought up by just his father and have all sorts of male activities and ethics drilled into him, yet still realise he's gay later on in life.
Similarly, a girl could be brought up in the same situation, yet still be as straight as an arrow. I personally would believe that sexual preference is hard-wired from birth, but mannerisms and sexual ethics are nurtured - i.e. You can have very effeminate, non-sporty, very straight men, and very sporty, very tomboyish, very straight women.

Just my 2c.