I took Sociology of Gender when I was in Cegep (in the Quebec educational system, that’s the period between high school and university). Don’t be fooled by the name, it was essentially a course in feminist thought. One of the running themes throughout the course is that men and women are not really all that different—they’re just socialized to be different, and this socialization is at the root of oppression against women. Because it’s convenient to socialize women to be passive and submissive, that’s exactly what society has done.
The textbook gave token acknowledgement of the biological origins of male-female differences. By not exploring the idea seriously, it gave the impression of dismissing this belief.
Once you learn the facts about male and female biology, it’s impossible to dismiss the biological origins of gender.
Women are wired to like babies, relationships, talking about their emotions and that sort of thing.
Men are wired to like machinery, competitive games, aggressive play, and so forth.
Are there women who do not fit the bill of the traditional woman? Of course. Same thing with men.
But these variations are outliers. Generally speaking men like masculine things and women like feminine things because of their biological make-up.
Socialization is a factor. You could theoretically socialize some individuals to like non-traditional activities for their gender.
But you could not do that for all men and all women. You cannot socialize most women to be like men or most men to be like women. Even if you undertake a massive undertaking to make boys like dolls, they will not collectively learn to play with them the way girls do. They are compelled to do this.
Feminists have said that biology should not determine one's destiny.
There is a grain of truth in that. I do think human beings, individually, can be very malleable.
But on a collective scale, men will be men, and women will be women. You can't socialize away hormones and brain structure.
