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Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
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I heard someone say, I forget where, that boys 'tend to be closer to their fathers' which as a generalization I disagree with. Maybe the thinking was that they can bond through 'male' interests/concerns, but deep down, I've always wondered whether if children in general are generally closer to their mother.
I've also heard theories that daughter/mother, father/son relationships are innately based around a suppressed conflict (i.e. the Freudian idea of them 'competing' for the opposite sex parent's affections) which might mean it's the opposite, that daughters are closer to their fathers and sons closer to their mothers than the other way around.
Thinking about it, I think by default most children tend to be closer to their mother in the early years purely because she is generally still the primary care-giver (obviously in cases where this is not the case it may be different), and in a superficial sense, this may change in later years depending on which parent the child relates to more - through personality.etc, and which they spend more time with.
Of course I try to love both of my parents equally (although sometimes I truly wonder) but to be honest I feel closer to my mother. Personality-wise, while i can't escape having some of their traits, i've always felt like a very different person to both of them in many regards.
I have never seen a family where both genders are equal in the parents' eyes. In my experience and observation, mothers tend to hold close their sons, and depend on their daughters. Fathers tend to hold close their daughters (although not to the extent a mother does to her son) and depend on their sons.