boomerang wrote:I posed your question to my resident authority on boyhood. In the world according to Mo boys are better than girls because:
Girls don't like to get dirty or wrestle.
Girls like to play with Barbies.
Boys are better bike riders.
Boys can wear their hair really short and never have to brush it.
Boys are stronger and they can run faster.
Boys are funnier.
Boys are better wall-ball players.
Boys aren't afraid of skeletons and zombies.
All of the ghostbusters are boys.
Boys get to drive forklifts.
He keeps adding to the list. I'll keep you updated.
Lol! I can use some of those, but I don't so much want to get into the "boys are better than" stuff. Mo is a hoot. Can you thank him for me?
FreeDuck wrote:Boys have better toys -- I guess that continues to be the case when they grow into men. I'm thinking Legos and dart guns.
Men get to be in charge, lead people, have influence. (I know I'm stereotyping, just trying to give dlowan what she needs.) Firefighters, policemen, soldiers -- mostly men. Men get to be heroes.
That would be an interestingly different concept for this little chap. I am now wondering who his heroes are.
George wrote:Women say "We can do that too!"
Men don't have to.
Except for childbearing.
And we'll pass on that, thank you.
Lots of little boys really, really want to be able to grow a baby inside them. This little fella is one of them.
Stuff about how great it is to be a DAD, though, would be very helpful.
Tryagain wrote:He can get to be the Pope
Let's not go there.
Rockhead wrote:Maybe the best thing is getting to take everything apart, and figure out what makes it work.
Putting it back together is optional...
Lol! ok....that's a user.
Noddy24 wrote:Men are complicated.
Not all men are mean. Not all men have red hair. Not all men can play professional football.
Figuring out what kind of man you will be is interesting. Boys can turn themselves into the sort of man they like--within reason.
You will probably not be the shortest man in Australia or the tallest man in Australia or the greatest singer in Australia or the fastest runner....
You might be the sort of man who is terribly clever at spatial relations, seeing how things work and fit together. Men like this often become engineers and mechanics.
There's no reason you couldn't work to be the best mechanic in Australia.
Men are allowed to be a little messier than women.
Because men are usually physically stronger than women, men have more freedom.
Men can make little boys (or medium sized boys) feel really, really important.
Men are often very good at understanding numbers. Men like this can keep track of other people's money or talk to computers or figure out how much things that don't exist yet will cost.
How old is this kid? I'm assuming he's a city boy?
You do come up with some dandies.
He's about 7. Too young for spatial relations.
Some of that is interesting.
You know, I do not know if it is so in the US, but here, girls have streaked ahead of boys academically. One of the issues for this little fella is that the girls appear to him to be so much smarter than boys.
Chai wrote:boomerang wrote:I posed your question to my resident authority on boyhood. In the world according to Mo boys are better than girls because:
Girls don't like to get dirty or wrestle.
Girls like to play with Barbies.
Boys are better bike riders.
Boys can wear their hair really short and never have to brush it.
Boys are stronger and they can run faster.
Boys are funnier.
Boys are better wall-ball players.
Boys aren't afraid of skeletons and zombies.
All of the ghostbusters are boys.
Boys get to drive forklifts.
He keeps adding to the list. I'll keep you updated.
YEAH!
How old is this little feller dlowan....?
While reading some of the responses, I was thinking, "wow, that's kinda deep stuff if he's just a little kid" It's scary enough for him being a boy (and not liking it) right now, let alone think about what kind of responsible 'ol man he should want to be.
But, he can maybe identify, like Mo, with "boys can drive forklifts!!!"
His life is so heavy right now. It'd be nice for him to think about the cool boy stuff like writing your name in the snow, driving forklifts, climbing fences and getting a splinter. Then pulling the dang thing out with your own teeth....not like those girls who run crying because they saw a lizard.
Boys can burp a lot better than girls can.
It's interesting how easily this gets into "better than."
The strength stuff, and runs faster, and liking to get dirty stuff is cool. As is the short hair and never having to brush it!
It's funny, though, I keep thinking "I used to do all the dirty stuff, I'm not scared of snakes "...but you folk are right, girls generally aren't as much into it, and it IS cool.
squinney wrote:Boys don't have to wear make-up or worry about if they look pretty before they go outside.
Their clothes are less espensive to dryclean.
They don't have to shave if they don't want to and if they don't people think it's cool - not so with girls and legs.
Boys can climb trees better and build treehouses and forts that are really cool.
They aren't afraid of spiders and snakes.
Men get to ride the lawn mower and play with power tools and they they don't find them too heavy.
Lol! Great.
Ticomaya wrote:Just like in the fairy tales, you get to be somebody's hero. Hero to your kids, or to your wife, or someone. That might mean you rescue them when they're stranded with a flat, you pick them up and hug them after they fall off their bicycle, or you kill the spider in the bathroom. Or just because you're their Dad and play catch with them.
You also get to take out the trash and mow the yard. :wink:
Nice.
uote="ehBeth"]a couple of fellas in the office offer up:
chest hair
beards and moustaches
peeing standing up
you don't have to worry if your clothes match, or if anything 'goes' with anything else
cool toys
don't have to pluck your eyebrows[/quote]
Lol! Great!
FreeDuck wrote:Men stay handsome longer than women and can have children for many more years than women. Men don't have to deal with PMS.
That's a great angle on the having children thing.
Rockhead wrote:Cool shoes with spikes on the bottom.
Uniforms with big numbers on them.
Customizing your bike to make it unique.
Fixing your first car on the side of the road, and driving on.
Camping in the woods all night.
Skinnydipping in the pond.
Hitting a curveball.
Or throwing one.
Boys hats are much cooler as well.
Lol!!! Hats?????
Rockhead wrote:My baby sister used to stand at the toilet and cry, cuz all she wanted in the whole world was to grow a hose so she didn't have to sit and pee.
I think it is too late for you as well, Chai.
Lol! And you can pee outside really easily!
George wrote:The stuff you laugh and joke about as a ten-year-old boy
you still think is funny at forty.
Quite..... :wink:
Green Witch wrote:My husband's contribution (the only one he said that was "G" rated):
You can protect those who are weaker than you.
That's a theme coming up, isn't it?
It's an interesting one for this little fella.....
Slappy Doo Hoo wrote:Just put a fabulous scarf around his neck and let him be gay.
Sure. He'll be whatever he wants to be.
Probably help if he doesn't think all men are shits, though, eh? :wink:
