Klara loves playing ball. She shoots hoops, practices volleyball, and generally brings her ball everywhere.
Her ball has a name – Gloria – and a personality that Klara invested it with and constantly develops. Gloria experiences minute shades of emotion that Klara narrates non-stop as she plays. Half of the fun of ball-playing for her is the interaction with Gloria’s emotional states.
I swear to God, I did not believe in innate sex differences in behavior before I had a child.
Clarissa's Blog 
I was familiar with the differences, and did not disbelieve them. Still thought I could raise boys to be more… you know, cultured and stuff.
My 5yo is, right now, drawing his 20th picture today. They are all minutely detailed, lovingly rendered schematics of fanciful trucks with all sorts of machinery onboard, and stick men with guns and power tools.
He is teaching himself to read, and the first words he learned to spell after our names were: Ammo, gas, and poop. And today he gleaned two exciting new words from the water heater labels: burn and hot.
The testosterone is unavoidable. Even at five.
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We are not supposed to believe this science. We are supposed to believe the other science that says hormones and genes are nothing when faced with the power of the human will.
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…and also that even preschoolers have that magnificent power of will!
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My mother tried raising me without any toy guns, soldiers and military toys… She gave up eventually after I started making this stuff from everything… As a kid I have also been a big fan of “Serving the Soviet Union” military show on TV… 🙂 🙂
v07
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I liked that TV show, too. Marching in formation still feels wildly attractive. Physically marching, of course. Not ideologically. 🙂
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Nah, marching I never liked. I was more into military tech – tanks, planes, etc.
v07
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Q: Will boys like this?
Is it made of metal? Does it have moving parts?
If yes to both, A: YES.
Bonus points if it is also loud.
We had to take a whole day off schoolwork, when the crew came and replaced our septic system. They used an excavator in our yard. I think they achieved temporary boy nirvana.
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LOL, have you started to question feminism yet ;-D
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When I read this, I want to get her a pet.
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Don’t I know it! You recommended Cordelia Fine’s Delusions of Gender a decade ago on this blog. Her claim was that girls and boys have the same brain and any differences are purely due to socialization. I read that book and also recommended it to friends. Turns out that nobody in the scientific community ever took her research seriously. She was a clown pursuing an agenda lol.
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