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Aaron Trevena wrote: > I still think we don't know how much of girls and boys leaning towards > different subjects, etc at an early age are down to nature vs nuture, > but it does start very early. > > A. My niece at less than one year old was showing a lot of interest in the spokes of Uncle Julian's wheelchair[1], and continued in that vein for some time - on holiday in France decided to try her hand at some dry-stone walling - albeit she called the small slates 'blankets' (because they covered the wall? :)). Now at 3 years old she does have more girly aspirations with dresses and doll's houses, but only last year she was helping my brother digging potatoes in the garden. My nephew.. 16 months old now. If it moves play with it. If it doesn't move. Prise it loose. Play with it ;) He's very definitely a little boy.. likes kicking a ball around and other little boy toys. They both like building blocks.. and beads (?). On the basis of watching them I think it is more nurture. Both their parents share equal time with them so they get a balanced upbringing from both sides of the 'traditional' upbringing for their respective genders and the opposite - my brother's not into dresses but he will let my nephew play with whatever he wants to, not stereotyped ;) If, on the other hand, children are raised by parents with traditional attitudes of 'boys do X and girls do Y' then they will inherit these concepts themselves. If you pull a baby away from toys that are not deemed 'the right ones for him/her' they will grow up with that fixed in their heads. Kind regards, Julian [1] I leaned over and asked 'would you like a socket set for your first birthday?' My brother thinking of his bike, which she had shown an interest in already, said 'No... she wouldn't...' :) -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG http://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/linux_adm/list-faq.html