Nature vs. Nurture

This chapter again brought into question the nature vs. nurture debate when it comes to developing gender identities. One of my favorite things to read about were children who were raised without the parent they are generally supposed to model. For example, when boys don’t have a masculine figure in their life during the developmental phase, it is common that they use terms to describe masculine behavior in negative terms, because they may not fit into how they see the feminine influence in their life acting.

            All of this brings makes me wonder how I’ll raise my children if I ever have any. On one hand, I feel strongly that gender roles should be neutral, and that I shouldn’t influence my children one way or the other. I feel they should develop how they feel best, and that it isn’t my place to influence them into doing something they may otherwise choose not to do, or vice versa. However this chapter shows that it is okay to celebrate gender identity. I still don’t know how I’ll raise children, especially when it comes to gender identity and gender roles, but I hope that I’m able to raise my children to not see gender as a deciding factor in how they live their life, or how they should expect others to live their lives.