Girls and boys and the physical environment

Rachel Sebba

pp. 43-72

in: Irwin Altman, Arza Churchman (eds), Women and the environment, Berlin, Springer, 1994

Abstract

A 4-year-old boy would be considered masculine if he enjoyed (and frequently engaged in) rough and tumble play; if he preferred to play with blocks and trucks; and if, during free play periods at nursery school, he tended to play outdoors in company of other boys. A 4-year-old girl would be seen as feminine if she liked to wear dresses, played with dolls and art materials, and didn’t get into fights. At age 10, a masculine boy would be one who engaged in active sports, avoided girls, and wasn’t particularly diligent about his schoolwork. A feminine girl would be one who had one or two close girlfriends, did not try to join boys’ sports play groups, paid attention to the teacher in class, did not brag, liked to baby-sit, and preferred romantic television shows. At age 15, a masculine boy would be one who excelled in spatial-visual tasks, liked and did well at math, was interested in cars and machinery, and knew how to repair mechanical gadgets; a feminine girl would be more interested in English and history than math or science, (p. 227)