Personality Attributes And Gender

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One researcher suggests new names for masculinity and femininity: "Spence has suggested that a more accurate label for masculinity is instrumentality (which reflects autonomy, dominance, and assertiveness); likewise a more accurate label for femininity is expressiveness (which reflects empathy, nurturance, and interpersonal sensitivity)" (Wang, Heppner and Berry 245). Many experts believe many of our gender differences begin when we are young, from the games we play to the way we learn in the classroom.
But boys' and girls' activities divide in a familiar geography of gender. Many boys, and a sprinkling of girls, spread out across large grassy fields, playing games of baseball, soccer, or football. The spaces where girls predominate, playing jump rope or foursquare or standing around talking, lie closer to the school building. Girls and boys mix in games of foursquare, dodgeball, handball, kickball, and in general milling around, punctuated by episodes of chasing (Thorne ...

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of that sex with approval and tenderness ( Sullivan, 1953/ 1968, pp. 218-219) (Ewen 225).
In other words, we acquire our personality traits in a variety of ways, and from a variety of sources, but our parents play a pivotal role in the adult personalities that develop.
For years, scientists and researchers have tried to discover how to "blend" the sexes, making gender less of an issue in our relationships and in our everyday lives. Unfortunately, due to the innate differences in our genders and personalities, most of this gender blending has not worked. As one researcher noted,
If gender really is deep and inalienable in our nature, it won't sit back quietly for long, much less ...

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