What did you learn today?

[anon2571578]

I remember one of my nephews, roughly age 6, taking a metal rod and using it like a sword, to hack at bushes, beat small limbs off trees, etc. My brother and I both thought this was a stereotypical “little boy” thing. Not that all boys want to do that nor that no girls will, but that more boys than girls will be doing it.

Or does this reflect their upbringing, already affected by the conscious and subconscious input of others?

I remember this study that was questioning why baby dolls are pushed on little girls to play with. Did toy manufacturers market baby dolls to girls because girls are naturally more maternal, or were girls more maternal because baby dolls were marketed to them? I lean towards the latter. I enjoyed playing with my dolls, sure, but I also like playing rough outside; I played with my brother’s He-Man figurines just as much as I did with my She-Ra ones. And, off the top of my head, I think it was Sweden that has tested running gender-neutral toy marketing, boys playing house and girls playing with nerf guns (that aren’t just colored pink), and it does suggest that there are no such things as gender-specific preferences with toys.

Girls aren’t naturally “more mature” than boys, they just aren’t allowed to get away with things for as long as boys are allowed to. And boys are just as empathetic as girls, until they’re told to suppress it in an effort to “be a man.”

And I’d be hesitant to say there are concrete differences between men and women based on physical parts, because a cis man and a trans woman, or a trans man and a cis woman, will each have radically different experiences growing up, even tho “the bits” are the same (excluding surgery).

[anon54735292]

Girls aren’t naturally “more mature” than boys, they just aren’t allowed to get away with things for as long as boys are allowed to. And boys are just as empathetic as girls, until they’re told to suppress it in an effort to “be a man.”

This is so sad to watch - that moment when it sinks in how they’re ‘supposed to behave’ & their natural behaviour starts to change.

[OldDoug]

Girls aren’t naturally “more mature” than boys, they just aren’t allowed to get away with things for as long as boys are allowed to. And boys are just as empathetic as girls, until they’re told to suppress it in an effort to “be a man.”

I do think that in certain other cultures, men are more easily intimate with each other, while in the U.S. (for example) we get conditioned against it, to an extent. In a restaurant, women will go to the bathroom with each other. Men - it ain’t happenin.’

I can’t shake the feeling that females really do get ‘mature’ faster than males. I’ve been told by more than one woman that, “All men are kids.”

Doug’s wife: “You’re SUCH a child…”

Doug: … (Because she’s right.)

[anon2571578]

Yeah I’m coming at this from an American/Western perspective, because we love ourselves some strict patriarchal roles here.

As for girls’ maturity, this is again a chicken-and-egg situation: are girls naturally more mature or are they forced to be more mature? Again I must go with the latter. Because I can promise you that girls are just as immature and vicious as boys can be, they’re just not allowed to manifest it openly like boys are, because they’ll be punished for not being “ladylike.” Boys are allowed to fight their differences out. Girls aren’t, so they’re forced to write passive-aggressive callouts on the bathroom stalls, or social media posts nowadays, talking about how “Becky is a total b*tch” and so forth.

Also the “girls mature faster than boys” has been used to justify the sexualization that young girls are subjected to, even before puberty. Girls learn fast that they have to “dress a certain way” so that they don’t “distract the boys.” They’re pressured into dating “older boys/men” because of the “difference in maturity level.” Kinda sleazy, if you ask me.

[OldDoug]

Excellent comments, KetoCobra. You’re right about some of the enforced differences, and I’ve forgotten some of the truths you portray.

Boys are allowed to fight their differences out. Girls aren’t, so they’re forced to write passive-aggressive callouts on the bathroom stalls, or social media posts nowadays, talking about how “Becky is a total b*tch” and so forth.

From what I’ve seen, when it does get really physical between girls, it can be no-holds-barred. By far, the wickedest fight I ever saw was between two 8th grade girls (13 years old). We were ‘tough city kids’ to an extent - this was “Crimetown USA” - Youngstown, Ohio, in the fall of 1972. Don’t know what started the fight, but this shit was real. Kicking, choking, eye-gouging. This was live or die.

[anon2571578]

From what I’ve seen, when it does get really physical between girls, it can be no-holds-barred. By far, the wickedest fight I ever saw was between two 8th grade girls (13 years old). We were ‘tough city kids’ to an extent - this was “Crimetown USA” - Youngstown, Ohio, in the fall of 1972. Don’t know what started the fight, but this shit was real. Kicking, choking, eye-gouging. This was live or die.

This is 100% true. If it gets to the “hold my earrings” stage, [spoiler]shit’s[/spoiler] about to hit the fan.

[JohnH]

I read this as “Would they form beliefs in the supermarket?”

This is how a large number of people apparently choose a diet - from skimming magazines / tabloids at the checkout line.

[juice]

This is how a large number of people apparently choose a diet - from skimming magazines / tabloids at the checkout line.

Exactly. Or looking at the cover of the National Enquirer.

[OldDoug]

Or looking at the cover of the National Enquirer.

Such things can bring us amazing tidings of the world. One favorite headline of mine was, “Missing Baby Found Inside Watermelon.”

And of course:

[anon2571578]

Controversial opinion: we can defend aspects of the metric system, but people who say they are 150cm tall are the equivalent of people who say their child is “72 months old.”

[JohnH]

I am 1.020833 fathoms tall, give or take a few hundred thousand angstroms.

[juice]

Controversial opinion: we can defend aspects of the metric system, but people who say they are 150cm tall are the equivalent of people who say their child is “72 months old.”

Well, it’s still a fair bit better than the Imperial system of “one and a half chains tall.”

[JohnH]

I count it as today because I found out past midnight.

Judges - can we get an official ruling here?

[JohnH]

“one and a half chains tall.”

That’s over 30 meters. Perhaps you are referring to a building. 99 feet, to be exact.

[PaulL]

No worries, my Mum’s old house (approx 140ish years old) did still have an actual fuse box when she moved out

This is still quite common in the northeastern U.S. I used to own a Victorian house that had knob and tube wiring that was still in use. If you don’t know what that is, don’t ask, because it will horrify you.

[anon2571578]

She does sometimes push things like “a girl needs to learn how to cook” but stopped after I accidentally poisoned the entire family with my cooking.

Lol that’ll learn 'em.

My brother was also the cook, but my parents also let him get away with a lot when he was a teen because “boys will be boys.” It backfired terribly, tho. He still lives with them, he lacks motivation, he can’t money-manage, etc. He’s essentially a big man-child, despite having his own son, that my parents are basically raising. My parents just hope he finds a woman to take care of him, but I know no woman should have to take care of him until he actually has something to bring to a marriage.

[PaulL]

I so wish I hadn’t had to learn on my own to cook and sew. Not that I have any real talent for either, but I wish I were young enough that home economics was an option for boys.

Shop class, which was still required for boys back then, was interesting in terms of the theory of it, but I am so dismal with my hands (except when playing the organ) that all my projects came out wrong. The shop teacher’s motto was “Measure twice, cut once.” My motto is “Measure three times, cut once, and then measure how badly wrong you got it.”

I have a friend whose father taught her to sew, because he learned from his mother, who was a tailor/seamstress (i.e., she could construct both men’s and women’s clothing). But her dad was also a whiz at car repair, so she has me beat all round, lol!

[MarkGossage]

except when playing the organ

euphemism or what?

[PaulL]

Want to see my organ?

[JohnH]

Want to see my organ?

My, it’s a big one!