Toys R Us drops signs signifying boys and girls toys

[kefkaownsall]

not to mention overreacting rom bronies causing the misogyny

[Alehksunos]

And it's those same labels that give brony haters fuel, and a sense of justification in their hate.

Oh yes, the same insipid, heterosexualist "DON'T YOU SEE IT'S FOR GIRLS?! WHY DO LIKE SHOWS FOR GIRLS?! WHAT THE FUCK?!" argument, instead of something legitimate like "I don't like it, a lot of the premise is not interesting to me" or "I don't like it, it's premise is grating".

[LeTipex]

However, the social differences are all bullshit and artificial and have been designed to keep men and women in arbitrary roles.

The trick is of course, in parsing out where biological differences end and where social roles begin. The age-old debate of nature versus nurture.

[Old Viking]

Social roles do not develop in a vacuum.  They are, in large part, based on biological differences. 

[PosthumanHeresy]

Honestly, I had action figures out the ass and video games galore, and would play catch with my dad. I also loved my pink as flying fuck Easy Bake Oven, my favorite colors are black/red/purple in no particular order, I wear makeup (just eyeliner right now), my favorite Sonic characters growing up (I was a huge Sonic fan) were Shadow and Amy, and I loved The Powerpuff Girls. Gender roles can bugger off.

[PosthumanHeresy]

Social roles do not develop in a vacuum.  They are, in large part, based on biological differences.

No, they are in a large part, based on keeping the balance of power favoring the powerful.

[The Right Honourable Mlle Antéchrist]

Social roles do not develop in a vacuum.  They are, in large part, based on biological differences. 

Well, yeah. Humans are animals, and pretty much all species have traits associated with each gender, so it would be a bit silly to assume that we're magically exempt from this. Thing is, there's a difference between saying, "On average, members of each gender will possess the physiological and mental traits needed to fill specific roles when facing survival situations" vs "Boys who like the colour pink are pussies."

Likewise, it's important to recognize that many roles were originally based around necessity back when survival was actually a major struggle for our species. Without those restrictions in place, people are much freer to explore aspects of their physical and psychological makeup that don't align strictly with what's average for their gender -- something I'd consider a positive, being that it gives all of us the opportunity to live lives that are much more fulfilling, and give a larger number of people the chance to contribute to human progress in a variety of different areas.

[JohnE]

Likewise, it's important to recognize that many roles were originally based around necessity back when survival was actually a major struggle for our species. Without those restrictions in place, people are much freer to explore aspects of their physical and psychological makeup that don't align strictly with what's average for their gender -- something I'd consider a positive, being that it gives all of us the opportunity to live lives that are much more fulfilling, and give a larger number of people the chance to contribute to human progress in a variety of different areas.

Not to mention that a lot of gender norms are arbitrary bullshit.

[Alehksunos]

Honestly, I had action figures out the ass and video games galore, and would play catch with my dad. I also loved my pink as flying fuck Easy Bake Oven, my favorite colors are black/red/purple in no particular order, I wear makeup (just eyeliner right now), my favorite Sonic characters growing up (I was a huge Sonic fan) were Shadow and Amy, and I loved The Powerpuff Girls. Gender roles can bugger off.

Eeeeeee

Sorry. That was just me, knowing I'm not alone.

I didn't bold Shadow because he was never one of my favorite characters.

[LeTipex]

Social roles do not develop in a vacuum.  They are, in large part, based on biological differences.

At the beginning, this is true.

The thing is, while social pressure is something that might begin as a biological difference, it also feeds on itself and gets reinforced as time goes by, to the point that in the end, it ends up having very little in common with the original cause.

See also : everything in society. Money, power, tech, all have started out as something simple and due to biological causes, and all have evolved over time into something that has almost nothing to do with biology. Why is it hard to accept that social rules (and in that case, those relating to gender) would have had the same amount of drift?