Blaspheming Against 'Gender' Orthodoxy

Why chimps' stick babies prove it's natural for girls to play with dolls and boys to love guns

Girls play with dolls because they’re programmed to, not because of any sexual stereotyping, new research suggests.

Young chimps in the wild play play boy and girl games, much like their human counterparts, scientists found.

Although both male and female chimpanzees play with sticks, girl chimps treat sticks like dolls copying their mothers as they care for infants.

The findings suggest girls play more with dolls than boys not because of sex-stereotyped socialization but because of ‘biological predilections.’

Richard Wrangham of Harvard University said: ‘This is the first evidence of an animal species in the wild in which object play differs between males and females.’

Earlier studies of captive monkeys had also suggested a biological influence on toy choice.

When juvenile monkeys are offered sex-stereotyped human toys, females gravitate toward dolls, whereas males are more apt to play with ‘boys’ toys’ such as trucks.