1.How do our sexual stereotypes influence us? They influence ...

2.According to a recent study, who are more likely to pick instruments like drums or the saxophone? ...

3.What did the researchers find about the sexual stereotypes? ... was far easier to break away from them.

Almost from the beginning, our sexual stereotypes have become so entrenched

that they influence nearly everything we do, from the sports we play to the

instruments we study to the careers we finally pick. A recent study

reaffirmed that young boys are far more likely to pick instruments

generally considered "male," like drums, the trumpet or the saxophone, and

girls will pick "feminine" instruments", like the violin, clarinet or

flute. Betty Repacholi of the University of Washington and her former

student, Samantha Pickering of the University of Sydney, reported their

findings in the current issue of the journal Sex Roles. The researchers,

who studied more than 600 kindergarten and fourth-grade Australian children

over the past couple of years, found that it't far easier for a little girl

to break away from the stereotypes and pick a masculine instrument than it

is for a little boy to pick up the violin. Some boys do, of course, and

many of the true masters of that instrument are men, perhaps indicating

that gender is far less important as the inner muse takes over on the road

to excellence. But in those early years, it can be really tough for a

little guy to pick up his violin case instead of a football and head out to

school. That's not what boys are supposed to do. In other words, it might

not sting as much for a girl to be called a tomboy as it does for a boy to

be called a sissy. So girls, the researchers suggest, make the break more

easily than boys, at least in the short term.