Question

Why are boys so hard to get

Answer 1

Answer:

Draw a line down the middle of a blank piece of paper. On the left side, write: “I am a male in society. Being a man means …” On the right side, “I am a female in society. Being a woman means …”

Take several minutes to write at least 5 sentences for each column.

Now, compare the two lists: How are they similar? How are they different? Are they helpful guides for male or female behavior? Or, do you feel they are somehow limiting?

Where do you think these ideas about what it means to be a man or woman come from? Are we born with them or are they learned?

In “It’s Dangerous to Be a Boy,” Michael C. Reichert, a psychologist, writes:

Early in my first go at being a father, I was hijacked by ancient impulses. Our family lived in a rowhouse neighborhood in Philadelphia, and right down the street was a small playground where gangs of boys gathered for games of stickball and basketball. My son loved playing sports. But he was unprepared for what developed as his friends grew older.

After years together laughing and riding their tricycles and then bikes up and down the block, several of the boys grew angry and mean. Ultimately, they turned on my son, taunting him, leaving him out of their games. He began to trudge home, tail between his legs. And I felt called to action.

At first, I tried to bolster his confidence so he would give the playground another go. But one Saturday morning I met him at the front steps and told him he could not come into the house. “You have to figure this out,” I said. “I’ll stay with you as long as you need, but I cannot let you just give up.”

He tried to push past me, his humiliation becoming frantic. He melted down, screaming and crying. I kept saying: “You can do it. You don’t have to give up.” A neighbor poked her head out, concerned about what must have sounded like child abuse.