Re: New Book Revives Lost Notions of Boyhood

In article <mehouck-BFAC55.11080212072006@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
dragonlady <mehouck@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

One of the big problems with some of this is where it leaves the girls
who are more "boy-like" and the boys who are more "girl-like" -- I think
we're better off using other types of descriptive language, and offer
all opportunities to children of both genders.

Funny, we were discussing just this topic at lunch yesterday with friends.
The three women present regard themselves as not-particularly-girly girls, and
the two men are not hypermasculine types either. Yet our perceptions are that
women and men are different, and that there are times when those differences
have to be taken into consideration.

It is also true, however, that it can hurt if you don't fit the stereotype. I
had that experience at a Christian conference years ago, where the preacher
illustrated the difference between men and women this way:

Think of five of your good friends.
Can you remember what colour their eyes are?
Can you remember their birthdays?

I could think of the eye colour of *one* of my friends, and no birthdays at
all. Imagine my feelings upon seeing that a large majority of women present
remembered most eye colours and most birthdays, and that most men did not! I
felt like a freak. However, I didn't see any new appendage growing when I
next had a shower, so I got over it! (Pity, really; that little appendage is
worth about $20,000 a year IIRC...)

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

"Parenthood is like the modern stone washing process for denim jeans. You may
start out crisp, neat and tough, but you end up pale, limp and wrinkled."
Kerry Cue
.

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