SEX DIFFERENCES – 2
March 11th, 2009From their researches it appears that many of our beliefs about sex differences are incorrect, resulting from our prejudices rather than from our observations. It is also evident that the stereotype of masculinity and femininity is a mixture of fact, fiction, and fantasy.
It is claimed that girls are more ‘social’ than boys, they like to be with people more, they touch people more, and they imitate people more (perhaps by dressing up). It is claimed that boys respond better to things they see than to things they hear, while girls respond better to sounds than to sights. It is claimed that boys understand complicated ideas better than girls while girls are better at rote-learning. This supports the claim that boys are better at mathematics and girls are better at using words. It is claimed that boys undertake tasks for the sake of solving the problem or of completing the task; girls undertake tasks because they want to be complimented or loved for doing them. It is claimed that boys have a greater need to achieve and are more curious than girls. It is claimed that girls are less adventurous, are more timid and more anxious than boys. It is claimed that there is a difference in the temperament of boys and girls, namely that boys are more active, more aggressive, more dominant, less timid, less emotional, and less likely to help others, especially those who are smaller or weaker than themselves. Girls, it is claimed, are more passive, more dependent, and ‘naturally’ submissive.
How many of these assertions are true?
There is no truth in the belief that girls are more ‘social’ than boys. Little girls are no more dependent on those who care for them than are boys. Girls do not spend longer playing with other children, nor are they more sensitive to other children’s emotional reactions than are boys. There is one difference which may be of importance to the formation of a child’s character and to its behaviour when it grows up: girls tend to form groups of two or three, they have ‘best friends’ with whom their relationship is intense. Boys, in contrast, tend to congregate in larger groups, or gangs.
There is no truth that girls are more likely to imitate other people than are boys. In fact, there is a weak trend towards boys being more imitative than girls, namely, that boys are more likely to accept the values of their peer group, rather than their own, when there is a conflict of values.
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