Since I blogged about kids and gender in my previous post, I came across an article online that discusses some recent research in the US that I think is worth sharing and provides an opportunity to follow up.
The article entitled “Men are stuck in gender roles, data suggests” focuses on various research including this from two years ago:
a Global Toy Experts survey found that more than half of mothers wouldn’t give a doll to someone else’s son, while only 32% said the same about giving cars or trucks to a girl.
Why? 
Well it seems “If girls call themselves tomboys, it’s with a sense of pride … but boys make fun of other boys if they step just a little outside the rigid masculine stereotype.” (Prof. Risman of University of Illinois)
And why is this? Well Prof. Rosky of the University of Utah claims that “Masculinity is valued more than femininity” “So there’s less worry about girls than about boys.”
This therefore suggests that the Western world places greater emphasis upon socially constructed masculinity than femininity.
Gender stereotypes do seem to have loosened: “The Global Toy Experts survey found that most mothers would let their own sons play with dolls and dress-up sets, even if they shied from buying them for other boys”
Sociology Bri 