Raising manly boys and feminine girls?

Ann Benton  |  Features
Date posted:  1 Aug 2006
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Is it a boy or a girl? This is the first question that is asked on the birth of a new baby.

On the basis of gender, not merely the name but also the wallpaper and the clothing is selected. The parent is already in the brave new minefield of gender identity. Some distinctions, while cultural and arbitrary, are benign. It would be a very mean feminist who would send her son to school in a dress.

Other cultural distinctions are more unhelpful. There is no reason why a boy has to like football or a girl has to play with dolls, although very often play preferences do follow predictable lines. Such things are not the battleground.

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