be experienced till they come at the
proper age. Our kittens play at cat-sports, little Tom and Tabby
together; but little Tabby does not play she is a mother!
Beyond the continuous dolls and their continuous dressing, we provide
for our little girls tea sets and kitchen sets, doll's houses, little
work-boxes--the imitation tools of their narrow trades. For the boy
there is a larger choice. We make for them not only the essentially
masculine toys of combat--all the enginery of mimic war; but also the
models of human things, like boats, railroads, wagons. For them, too,
are the comprehensive toys of the centuries, the kite, the top, the
ball. As the boy gets old enough to play the games that require skill,
he enters the world-lists, and the little sister, left inside, with her
everlasting dolls, learns that she is "only a girl," and "mustn't play
with boys--boys are so rough!" She has her doll and her tea set. She
"plays house." If very active she may jump rope, in solitary enthusiasm,
or in combination of from two to four. Her brother is playing games.
From this time on he plays the games of the world. The "sporting page"
should be called "the Man's Page" as that array of recipes, fashions and
cheap advice is called "the Woman's Page."
One of the immediate educational advantages of the boy's position is
that he learns "team work." This is not a masculine characteristic,
it is a human one; a social power. Women are equally capable of it
by nature; but not by education. Tending one's imitation baby is not
team-work; nor is playing house. The little girl is kept forever within
the limitations of her mother's "sphere" of action; while the boy learns
life, and fancies that his new growth is due to his superior sex.
Now there are certain essential distinctions in the sexes, which would
manifest themselves to some degree even in normally reared children;
as for instance the little male would be more given to fighting and
destroying; the little female more to caring for and constructing
things.
"Boys are so destructive!" we say with modest pride--as if it was in
some way a credit to them. But early youth is not the time to display
sex distinction; and they should be discouraged rather than approved.
The games of the world, now the games of men, easily fall into two broad
classes--games of skill and games of chance.
The interest and pleasure in the latter is purely human, and as such is
shared by the two sexes even
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