There are two problems with this image (which is obviously clickbait — we weren’t born yesterday):
1) For years, primary and secondary socialization hasn’t been so clear-cut anymore. Many parents let their children choose. A daughter (whom I adore) of two friends of mine is crazy about superheroes. A son of some acquaintances has incredible taste in clothes.
2) The link between nature and nurture is incredibly complex, and oversimplifying it is an insult to every humanities graduate degree. We literally spend a lifetime becoming sensitive to the signals and studies on both sides. So you should know that there is also an innate tendency in both genders. Beyond the vast literature, many mothers who pursue a free, agender education and socialization eventually have to reckon with the fact that their male child wants toy cars and their female child wants dolls. Not always. Not all of them. But the pattern exists.
Is it genetics? School socialization and peer groups? Media? Impossible to untangle, but there’s a trend.
And you can’t ignore hormones either. True, with endocrine disruptors and microplastics, males are becoming increasingly feminized (and it’s a non-trivial problem): reduced testosterone, reduced anogenital distance, declining fertility, increased breast tissue, and so on. But hormones aren’t abstract concepts — they’re instructions given to body and mind to steer us. Denying this is stupid. During my pre-adolescence and adolescence, I remember that despite my primary socialization from my flower-child, “open-minded” parents, I felt a powerful drive toward aggression, I needed to watch violent movies, I was never tired, everything was a competition, I had an exaggerated propensity for risk that in hindsight was completely suicidal (I’m still alive by miracle and thanks to a couple of wonderful people who saved me). That’s hormones.
So: it’s complicated.
