American boys have become less supportive of gender equality (i.e. men and women should receive equal job opportunities and pay)

Paidiske said:

But we should ask why. Because the idea that it's always just about innate differences is highly suspect. And refusing to recognise or challenge the underlying problems that many of us face, is completely unjust.

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I dont think its ALWAYS about innate differences. There most certainly are many professions that are mostly male or female oriented, but that doesn't mean the opposite sex cannot be interested in doing that job.

But its also highly suspect to say that its never about innate differences.

Certainly society and culture can have an affect on some professions. But the fact is women are more likely than men these days to go to and graduate from college. And they still choose certain professions more often than men.

It is suspect to believe it is just cultural and not innate for the majority of people.

rjs330 said:

That proves his point. Those healthcare jobs have rhe highest rates of injuries precisely because men would be superior in those tasks than women would be.

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But his point was, that men dominate certain jobs because they're better at them. And yet here we have a role that, looking at this aspect, at least, men would be better at, but it's dominated by women. Which tells us that gender distribution in work roles is not always or primarily about raw ability.

rjs330 said:

We see nursing dominated by women because more women want to do that job than men do.

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And why is that? Is it because women are socialised into, and rewarded for taking up, nurturing and caring roles? Is it because boys or men who show an interest in such roles face stigma for it? Are you going to say that's not a factor at all?

rjs330 said:

The sexes are different. We are built differently and think differently.

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On average, there's a slight difference. But as a cohort, we're not really so different. Most of us are in that overlapping part of the bell curve for most traits.

Parenting anecdotes are cute; I have anecdotes of my own. I've trained in two completely different fields where I faced opposition and discrimination as a woman. Not for a second do I believe that most of us end up doing what we do, for innate reasons, rather than conditioned ones.