Philosophically, at what age were we so easily persuaded of our own inadequacy? Who was setting the agenda?
I find it difficult to establish hard fast rules about when this or that became a surety. When something becomes apparent or identifiable is no indicator of for, "How long has this been coming on." The human condition is always shades of existence influenced by survival requirements. We are complex creatures of chemistry (nature) affected by our experiences (nurture).
It's so fascinating to see folks come to grips with their own interpretation of self awareness! Who knows at 3 or 4 years of age a gender specificity? I submit, none of us do. Today's identification of the prepubescent trans population gives us a better idea of "when." We older folks weren't allowed to even consider or weren't offered the option of determining our gender in the 50's, 60's, 70's. I for one certainly wouldn't have said anything for fear of severe familial and societal repercussions.
Look at it this way. As a youngster, I just "knew" what I liked or disliked and felt fear & sadness or satisfaction & safety. We humans, unless psychopathic, tend toward adjusting to circumstances presented by individual life experiences. That means, fitting in to expectations of parents, playmates, acquaintances, societal contacts, etc. Fitting in eases survival stress. Its in our evolutionary development. Then later, we privately start to decide just how we think fitting in will be successful and what are we strong enough or secure enough to present. A sympathetic sibling or parent can certainly provide comfort, but how many of us had that growing up?
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs is simplistic, but provides the framework to interpret the higher functioning that allows us to timeline "At what age did we know..." but its artificial and adds no value to how I feel now. We like to place boundaries and provide definition, it helps us ease into every day pursuit of happiness.
