Every day my gymnastics coach brings his son to practice. He just kind of hangs around, and we play with him. I was playing with him today because he had a bunch of fun new toys. He had a dump truck and a few race cars. He asked me what I wanted to "be", and I said I would be the truck. He looked at me and said, "No you can't be that one because only boys can play with the big trucks." He is four years old.
I was a little stunned by this. But, once I thought about what he said, I started to understand it. Children are enculturated to play with certain toys. Boys gravitate towards trucks and sports, whereas girls gravitate towards dolls and playing "house". Although maybe not parents intentions, children seem to be raised to think certain things are appropriate and certain things aren't depending on their gender. Parents have started to attempt to make things equal for both genders, but a division is still visible.
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