ELEPHANT-DONKEY.com

Hadrian said 03/20, 02:10 AM
In a study of younger children, researchers found that if ushered alone into a room and told they could play with anything, nearly half the boys chose "feminine" toys as often as "masculine" ones, provided they believed nobody, especially their fathers, would find out. [1]

Sad. Even in childhood, its "Don't ask,don't tell".

[1] http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/10/magazine/10wwln-lede-t.html

Hadrian said 03/20, 10:12 PM
There is a long history linking gender role conformity to perceived homosexuality. In other words, even if you aren't gay, if you are a boy who plays with dolls, you may as well be.

Girls are allowed more latitude in their identities. A study of children ages 5 to 13 girls tend to become less stereotypical in their play as they age while boys remain emphatically masculine in theirs.

Masculine - except when they believed nobody, especially their fathers, would find out. The issue here is not whether these boys are homosexuals but that they feel a need not to be seen as acting feminine, especially in the eyes of their father.

A study of cross-sex behavior (for example, boys who play with dolls) found that women were more accepting of the behavior than were men. When showing cross-gender behavior, boys, more so than tomboys, were expected to continue to show this behavior into adulthood, be less well adjusted and more likely to be homosexual when they grow up.

For boys, its "Don't ask,don't tell" about acting like a "sissy", not about being a homosexual -- although in most peoples eyes, there is no difference.