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[–]purrfect 8 insightful - 1 fun8 insightful - 0 fun9 insightful - 1 fun -  (4 children)

Debra Soh again. I'm all for science studying, which "gendered" behaviors are biological in nature, which ones are social and which ones are a mixture of the two (one modulating the other). The more studies, the better. However, the way she talks is very confusing and just when I'm about to agree on something, she goes on to say something that makes no sense and I'm back to square one. She might have some good points if she made herself clear. Maybe she's not the best person to educate about the matter 🤷

[–]MarkTwainiac 9 insightful - 1 fun9 insightful - 0 fun10 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

I read her book, carefully, and it & her thinking are sloppy, confused & confusing. She is not well-versed, nor does she display any intellectual rigor.

In her book as well as when she speaks, she constantly uses "sex" and "gender" interchangeably as if they were one and the same. She similarly uses "female" as if means "feminine" and "male" as if it means masculine.

She believes that sex stereotyped behaviors, roles, and preferences for certain kinds of toys, clothing, color, hairstyles, jobs, etc - in other words "gender" - are innate and biological in origin. She seems unaware sex stereotypes have changed greatly over time and vary considerably from culture to culture.

She makes lots of sweeping statements about child development, repeatedly claiming that "from the moment of birth," baby girls & boys prefer the toys/clothing/colors that sex stereotypes associate with their sex... She apparently has never known or cared for a newborn or read about how infants actually develop coz then she'd know newborns have limited vision, babies don't give a fuck what they wear, and the toys that babies are interested in have high-contrast & bright colors & simple shapes...

Also, she assumes children play with the sexist toys they're given only in the most sex stereotyped ways. She's thinks boys can't/don't like stuffed animals & plush toy puppets - and says that if they're forced to play with them, they're likely to be violent with them. She believes that girls are always loving & caring to their dolls, oblivious to the fact that lots of girls hit, beat & speak cruelly to their baby dolls - and make their Barbies act out all sorts of adult scenarios, including sex acts and violence.

One of the many whoppers in her book is that "no one is 100% male or 100% female."

[–]sisterinsomnia 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Agreed. And earlier she wrote some very anti-feminist pieces, so she is not an ally in all respects.

[–]purrfect 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Oh dear! That's even worse than I thought. It seems I agree with her on very little and that is: more and better scientific studies on the matter. As long as she doesn't do them. Not even because she might be sexist, but because her thinking is too muddled 🤦‍♀️

[–]Skipdip[S] 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I appreciate this. I agree she is not very clear and she is not clear about definitions.