0:00:04.956,0:00:09.037
Okay, from birth all the way to adulthood,[br]boys are told to like trucks and sports.

0:00:09.037,0:00:10.241
They're told not to cry

0:00:10.241,0:00:13.278
and that they should like math[br]and science, not theater and art.

0:00:13.278,0:00:15.739
Girls are told to be[br]frilly little pink princesses.

0:00:15.739,0:00:17.588
They're told to play with dolls.

0:00:17.588,0:00:19.456
Women are taught how to cook and clean,

0:00:19.456,0:00:23.291
while their counterparts are told to just[br]find someone who knows how to do that.

0:00:23.291,0:00:27.063
Some people would argue that they treat[br]their sons and daughters equally,

0:00:27.063,0:00:29.340
but parents don't without even knowing it.

0:00:29.340,0:00:31.734
In a study conducted[br]by neuroscientist Lise Eliot,

0:00:31.734,0:00:34.509
mothers were asked to put their babies[br]on a downward slope.

0:00:34.509,0:00:38.180
They then estimated how steep of a slope[br]their 11-month-olds could crawl down.

0:00:38.180,0:00:40.556
Mothers with boys got it right[br]to within one degree

0:00:40.556,0:00:43.224
while mothers with daughters[br]underestimated their ability

0:00:43.224,0:00:44.234
by about nine degrees

0:00:44.234,0:00:46.230
despite lack of differences[br]in motor skills

0:00:46.230,0:00:47.666
between young boys and girls.

0:00:47.666,0:00:50.196
We underestimate our children[br]without even knowing it.

0:00:50.196,0:00:51.469
But is it really our fault

0:00:51.469,0:00:54.241
when we, as a society,[br]have been doing that for centuries?

0:00:54.241,0:00:55.627
Remember Margaret Hamilton,

0:00:55.627,0:00:58.992
the woman who helped build[br]the Apollo 11 on-flight software?

0:00:58.992,0:01:02.760
What about Rebecca Latimer Felton,[br]the first woman senator in the US?

0:01:02.954,0:01:07.053
Caroline Herschel, the German astronomer[br]who founded many comets?

0:01:07.803,0:01:11.188
Society's been telling us what roles[br]we play in the world for centuries,

0:01:11.188,0:01:14.104
from men needing to be strong[br]to women needing to be delicate,

0:01:14.104,0:01:17.294
our thoughts about what men and women[br]are perceived as is atrocious.

0:01:17.294,0:01:20.211
According to landofthebrave.info,[br]the tasks of colonial women,

0:01:20.211,0:01:22.421
which was from 1607 to 1763,

0:01:22.421,0:01:25.132
were to cook, clean,[br]and tend to the children and animals.

0:01:25.252,0:01:28.829
The tasks of colonial men,[br]as stated in public.gettysburg.edu,

0:01:28.829,0:01:32.297
were to have social power,[br]be educated and own property.

0:01:32.297,0:01:35.745
They also stated that men usually[br]didn't step outside of the gender roles

0:01:35.745,0:01:38.453
because they already had[br]all the freedom that they needed.

0:01:38.453,0:01:40.652
Women, however,[br]lacked the same type of freedom

0:01:40.652,0:01:43.464
and often got in trouble[br]for stepping outside of the limits.

0:01:43.464,0:01:46.931
We still treat people the same way[br]that we did roughly 409 years ago.

0:01:46.931,0:01:50.004
That's like America still[br]prosecuting people for witchcraft.

0:01:50.994,0:01:53.197
In an image search[br]of the phrase "boys' toys,"

0:01:53.197,0:01:55.423
everything that showed up[br]had to do with a gun,

0:01:55.423,0:01:58.566
a car of some sort, some tools,[br]superheroes or dinosaurs.

0:01:58.566,0:02:00.989
In another image search[br]of the phrase "girls' toys,"

0:02:00.989,0:02:04.465
everything that showed up was pink,[br]had to do with a castle or a princess,

0:02:04.465,0:02:06.272
even a play kitchen and cosmetics set.

0:02:06.272,0:02:09.222
Another reason we treat our sons[br]differently than our daughters

0:02:09.222,0:02:11.320
is because of the way[br]we are marketed things.

0:02:11.320,0:02:13.320
In an article written by Laurie Futterman,

0:02:13.320,0:02:16.803
studies show from six to 12 months old,[br]both sexes prefer dolls to trucks.

0:02:16.803,0:02:17.914
Many people might argue

0:02:17.914,0:02:20.390
that playing with a doll,[br]a traditionally female toy,

0:02:20.390,0:02:23.031
might confuse the child[br]about their gender or sexuality,

0:02:23.031,0:02:24.610
but that could not be more wrong.

0:02:24.610,0:02:30.154
Playing with a doll could help the child[br]with nurturing and relationship building,

0:02:30.154,0:02:33.769
according to Rebecca Haynes in her article[br]"Why Boys Should Play With Dolls."

0:02:33.769,0:02:35.492
Why would we deprive young children

0:02:35.492,0:02:37.869
from the ability to love[br]and care for something?

0:02:37.869,0:02:39.697
Taking all of this into account,

0:02:39.697,0:02:42.803
people do in fact treat their sons[br]different than their daughters.

0:02:42.803,0:02:44.855
Maybe it's because[br]people don't like change,

0:02:44.855,0:02:47.519
or because we're advertised[br]to gender norms all the time.

0:02:47.519,0:02:49.376
So let the little boys play with dolls.

0:02:49.376,0:02:51.190
Let the little girls play with trucks.

0:02:51.190,0:02:52.466
Let the boys wear pink.

0:02:52.466,0:02:55.332
And I don't mean the shirts that say,[br]"Tough guys wear pink."

0:02:55.332,0:02:57.344
Let them be delicate or let them be rough.

0:02:57.344,0:03:00.386
Teach the boys how to cook[br]and teach the girls how to fix a flat.

0:03:00.386,0:03:02.908
Don't make your kids[br]rely on others for simple things.

0:03:02.908,0:03:04.860
Let them be who and what they want to be.

0:03:04.860,0:03:06.098
To quote Margaret Fuller,

0:03:06.098,0:03:08.931
"There's no wholly masculine man,[br]no purely feminine woman."