The author, Gloria Steinem, believes that we are an unpredictable mix of both nature and nurture. Since Steinem did not go to school until she was twelve years old, she escaped learning some typical lessons of her generation. However, once she went to school, she felt unprepared for gender obsessions or race and class complexities. “Nature”, actually “human nature”, is characteristics that we had since we were born, while “nurture” is something we acquired by learning. According to the author, the real answer to whether human behavior is determined by the environment or by a person's genes is a balance between nature and nurture. In school, Steinem learned about human nature; for instance, humans like fighting and people believe that only
