Of Monkeys, Textbooks, and Gender

“Sociologists suggest that socialization, rather than biology, usually influences what we see as appropriate behaviors for different genders.”

I’m a college-goer now, and I’m afraid that this is an excerpt from my rather expensive textbook. The required class, Contemporary American Society, quotes Karl Marx more often than Abraham Lincoln (actually, I have yet to see a quote from our 16th president) and the author does little to hide his obvious biases.

The chapter on sexuality is especially hard for me to swallow (hence this blog post). The author is informing us that socialization is what determines traits in humans. In other words, girls like to play with dolls because parents push dolls on them from a young age and boys roughhouse because it’s what everyone expects. The idea that boys will boys simple because they’re boys is viewed as old-fashioned by “modern” thinkers such as my highly esteemed curriculum writer.

As I scanned the first few pages, something about that statement grabbed my attention. “Sociologists suggest…” Which sociologists? Surely not all of them. If not all, than how many? Even if all hold this view, wouldn’t it only seem right that sociologists chalk everything up to sociology? What do other people in scientific fields have to say?

Thanks to Google, I came across a fantastic little article. In 2002, a study was conducted on monkeys. The monkeys showed the exact same preference for certain gender-specific toys that children do. The results proved that preferences and traits are inherently biological (boys will be boys simply because they’re boys). This shocking study was later duplicated with a different species of primate, yet demonstrated the same results.

While the author ascribes the findings to evolution rather than to a God who created certain things to be innate inside of humans (and yes, even animals), I encourage you to read the article (click here).

In the end, the THINK textbook can say what it will; I discovered that facts support what I already believed to be true. Although I cringe at the thought of paying for these “core” classes that clash with my beliefs, I intend to only come out firmer and more grounded in my beliefs than when I went in.