Before I had kids, I thought that each child was an individual, and I didn't believe much in gender stereotypes in children. Little boys ran and jumped a lot because that's the kind of games they were taught. Little girls played with dolls because that was the kind of toys they were given. I thought that if all kids, regardless of gender, were exposed to the same things, they would have the same tendencies. Then, I spent some time in the real world of kids and figured out that I was wrong. Possibly, there were some differences between boys and girls. I'm not saying that nurture doesn't have some effect, but I don't think that's the whole story. I'm going to share one of my experiences that led me to this conclusion. However, so as not to bias you, I'm going to let you guess who the boys in the stories are and who the girls are. Today's Story
Wally was in fifth grade and turning 11 years old. He had a pool party for his birthday at the local YMCA with both boys and girls. After an hour of swimming, the kids had pizza and soda. However, it took forever before the refreshments could be served. We were kept waiting by one group, which was in the bathroom, changing and making themselves presentable. Some of the other group changed out of their wet clothes, but many did not. When they finally sat down to eat, all of the boys sat at one end of the table, and all of the girls sat at the other end. One group saw how much pizza they could get into their mouths at once and laughed as they punched each other. The other group talked about who they were “dating.”
You decide. Which were the girls, and which were the boys?
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In case you had any doubts, the boys were the wet punchers, and the girls were the well-coiffed ones. It may have been peer pressure, but there was no mixing between the two. I found it very interesting that some of the boys that the girls talked about that they were dating were some of the boys who were at the party. However, the boys were clueless that they were dating anyone.
Until next time...
I raised boys, but have 10 granddaughters. It was so funny how different the girls were when they were little from my boys in terms of their interests.
ReplyDeleteI grew up in a family of four girls, so I had a lot to learn about boys. At times, my husband had to explain to me that something was normal for boys.
DeleteMy son and daughter are two years apart, and played well together. I noticed a theme--my son was dinosaur-obsessed, and my daughter would play dinosaurs with him. However, her dinosaurs were always a family unit (daddy, mommy, brother and sister ... like our family). Likewise, he was willing to play with the dollhouse, but it was dinosaurs who lived in the house, and the play-storyline always involved some sort of disaster happening to the house (an explosion, fire, etc.). I loved being a silent observer during their imaginative play.
ReplyDeleteThat must have been really fun to watch. Having two boys, I didn't see as much variation in their play.
DeleteHaha! I remember those days from my childhood as well! Working with kids, I have certainly observed some typical boy/girl behavior for sure!
ReplyDeleteI bet you saw a lot of interesting things working with kids.
DeleteThat made me laugh. So true!!!!
ReplyDeleteI thought the funniest part was the "dating" part when the boys were clueless that they were dating someone.
DeleteI guessed right. :-)
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't take much imagination with this example to figure out the girls were the ones in the changing room doing their hair, etc., and were "dating".
DeleteChildren pick up cultural norms at a very early age, don't they?
ReplyDeleteIt seems like they do.
DeleteSo true to life when I was growing up in the 50s. Not much has changed.
ReplyDeleteDonna: Click for my 2025 A-Z Blog
The more things change, the more they stay the same. :)
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