The author’s twins, one boy and one girl, start playing in a gendered manner at one year of age. A large study of twins has helped prove that gender play is typically half inherited and half socially determined, but due to the influence of media and marketing, parents tend to give gender disproportionate weight over things such as temperament. The author makes the attempt to break her children out of that cycle because she feels that it allows children to have fuller emotional abilities. Several years later, she finds her efforts are partially successful with her twins. They both have some predilection toward toys that appeal to them in a stereotypical manner, but they also have interests that are non-stereotypical, which satisfies the author.

Read the full article here:
What My Twins Taught Me About Gender Stereotypes