Boys Will be Boys

We have all heard this saying before: boys will be boys. Maybe it was when your grandmother saw her grandson fall out of a tree and hurt his arm. Or maybe when your dad saw you and your brothers take your bananas from lunch and started to pretend to shoot each other. But is this really what boys do? If it is, does it have to be this way? And finally should it be this way? Hopefully, after reading this blog post, you will be able to form your own answer to these questions.

There are a lot of tendencies that we see in younger children that seem to reflect their gender. There are a lot of them if you really think about it, and it takes just a short time see them in how children play. Boys tend to like to play with toys such as cars and bugs and monsters, and girls play with their cook sets and dolls. Boys like to run around and play sports and army, and girls like to socialize more. Some other things one may notice or claim, is that girls are more nurturing than boys are, and that boys in fact seem to be more aggressive.  Girls seem to pay more attention to detail and the way things appear, but boys seem to be better with directions. As I mentioned, this is not always the case. Sometimes you will have a girl who will want to play army just as much as the boys, or you may see a boy who wants to play dress up with the girls, but these are some tendencies or trends and things  that we tend to notice that are specific to gender. However, are these tendencies stereo types or are they fact and what the statistics actually show?

Some people may say boys will tend to be more aggressive, or that they like to do things like play with cars because that's what they learn from their culture and the messages they receive from their family. However, is this really the case, are our tendencies the way they are because of the way our culture teach us to be? Even though I believe this could play a part to the differences in tendencies, overall this is not what the research shows.

One research study observed infants and noticed some unique differences that were related to gender on the biological level. The female infants tended to look longer at peoples faces, and to be more excited when looking at individuals up close. With boy infants, however, this was for the most part not the case. In fact, they were a lot more excited looking at the mobile hanging above them, and looking at it as it moved.

In another interesting study, it was found that boys and girls responded differently to separation from their mothers. When infants were separated from their mothers and were placed on the opposite side of a plastic barrier from them, the girl infants were more likely to sit and cry out for their mothers and shed tears. The boy infants did not tend to do this, but instead they usually tried to break through the plastic barrier and would ram into it. These babies did not act this way because it is what they learned from their cultures, but instead it seems that a lot of these characteristics come naturally and without external influence.

It is interesting that as the babies grow up, we can see that their actions and behaviors reflect this information. Boys will tend to want to play with things that move like cars and usually want to run around. Girls like things that are pretty and have details, like dolls. Boys will be a lot more likely to take sticks and hit each other with them and to play war and girls will be more likely to take their dollies and rock them to sleep. Maybe this is just the way things should be. If one thinks about it maybe this is a good thing. Often these gender characteristics are good to have growing up. It can be a very good thing that women seem to be more naturally nurturing, because traditionally the mother is the one who will nurture the young in a family. Maybe it isn't a bad thing that boys are aggressive either. Men being aggressive can have a lot of evolutionary benefits, including the benefit in society today of a man being more likely to be the protector of his family and to confront danger.

In my opinion it is a good thing that the majority of soldiers are men, and that women are better at being the nurturers and are natural mothers. Everyone has a unique roll to play and we are made different from each other for a reason. There is an important document in my life that I follow called, "The Family: a Proclamation to the World." In this document it states that: "Gender is an essential characteristic of individuals premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose." In other words, we are who we are for a reason. So, is it true that boys will be boys? If you ask me I will give you a strong yes and I believe it is for a good reason.