Gender-Specific Toys
December 8, 2005 by Lei
Filed under News and Links about Children's Things
Like most modern parents, I’d like to think I present my son with toys that are as gender-neutral as possible. In fact, if you’ve noticed, I am reluctant to categorize many of the toys I feature here at Play Library as either toys for boys or girls. Still, it’s plain to see that my son prefers traditional boy toys like spaceships and cars.
Toy preferences may have developed far back in human evolution and may even be partially determined by our genes. Recent research has shown that male monkeys like to play with toy cars while female monkeys prefer dolls.
Like little boys, some male monkeys moved a toy car along the ground. Like little girls, female monkeys closely inspected a doll. Males also preferred balls while females fancied cooking pots. Both were equally interested in neutral objects such as a picture book and a stuffed dog.
Scientists speculate that females prefer dolls because they’re programmed to care for infants while males prefer toys that allow them to practice skills like throwing and moving which are useful for hunting.
