Girls and Boys –Intro

 

Are we different? What is the difference?

In the playground, the quintessence of what makes girls and boys is clear: girls adore doll and boys play the soccer ball. Yes, we are different. And that is the difference. And that girls sew, boys goes gaga over trucks; that girls like pink, boys like tennis; and that, that, that…But then why.

We do not think this is the unsolvable chicken and egg issue.

Girls and boys are obviously different. Sex differences are clear the second we were formed in the womb; parents anticipate with joy from the first prenatal ultrasound. But are boys really more aggressive and girls really more empathetic –or do we just see what we expect in them? Are those gaps inborn or shaped by environment –that is, by us?

If we look into the brain, as if there is a neurological disparity between genders, it could explain important behavioural differences. But surprisingly, researchers have found little large-scale differences between boys and girls in brain structure and function (Eliot). It’s true that  boys have larger brains (and heads) than girls –unless some would wish to claim that girls have larger brains. Physical differences aside, neither of the findings could explain why boys are better in maths and physics and girls in reading and writing.

One fact about our brain is that it exhibits plasticity, that experience itself changes brain structure and functions. One simple example would be the act of walking depends on the experience in early life, without which the brain fails to wire up properly and thus renders one difficult in mobility in later years.

Then, does growing up as a boy or as a girl also wire the brain in a particular way? Researchers have discovered that the different ways parents raise boys and girls leave its stamp on their developing brains (Eliot). Most sex differences start out small but are amplified as children’s pink- or blue-tinted brains meet our gender-infused culture, including all the classroom activities, home dramas and playground capers. With that understanding, we shall be able to bridge the gaps between you and me –in school achievement, empathy, aggressiveness and conscientiousness.

Girls and Boys -Prelude

 

In a playground in the evening, kids and teenagers mingle and have fun under the blue sky. The stretch of green allows for more space for games and primes the mind to relax and the thoughts to wonder. At the central of the public space, a set of swings and see-saws and merry-go-around is enacted. Dancing trees and the breeze add to the beauty mother nature that is enjoyed by all.

Girls and boys are playing in the playground. Teenage boys are observed to kick, swing their arms and race around a ball. Their manoeuvre directly contrasts the pair of girls strolling across the ground in good mood and grace, chatting away in topics ranging from the schoolwork that is assigned to be done over the weekend to their favourite American Idols. They talk with no notice of the game of soccer, with no notice of the soccer ball high in the air coming their way as they walk. In any second the ball would hit one of them or both as they are talking and whispering.

A little girl accompanied by her grandma and grandpa walks across the sidewalk to the swing with a Barbie in hand. A little boy sits besides the swing with two power ranger toys, each hanging out in the air poised for battle; and as he closes his arms, the rangers appear to be fighting for the better or for the worst. But one thing for sure, the little boy enjoys it with frequent chanting of pomp, pomp, pomp, as the toys clash. And then, the little girl trips herself on the way to the swing, and injures her right knee as grandma rushes to her rescue. Putting her aging hand on the shoulder as the little girl cries, another comforts the wound, the grandma looks closely into the eyes of her grandchild and speaks volume about comfort and calm. Grandpa approaches with anguish and slight anger to the unfortunate fall, and clear from his voice as he comforts the grandchild that he wants her to be courageous and stand up again in her own feet. The little boy by the swing looks upon at the girl with no clues: within a hand stretched in front of the boy is the Barbie dropped to the ground as the little girl falls.

Around the walkways circling the parks are strollers and joggers.  Most of which take the time out back from a days’ work to celebrate how peaceful the weather is in the summer, and how in the evening a joyous atmosphere amid the greening trees along on the yellow-stoned pathway allows for smooth interactions with nature and for positive thinking. A middle-aged man in the formal wear back from work is walking his dog, a chi Wawa. Sniffing around for food and ants, it enjoys being in the company of its master. But it is talkative and hyperactive. Although he enjoys being with a small dog not having to worry about its strength, he is having a hard time trying to make connection with the nature than trying to follow the pace of the chi Wawa. Another woman in her forties is walking a dog coming into the walkway. The chi Wawa looks as being strong. But she seems to be in control. As she walks, the chi Wawa is being slow and steady: the rope between them is loosely hanged as they are in pace with each other. The woman shows no worries that it is going to bark with no apparent reason, or that it will be standstill in defiance. And in a distance, both the man and the woman are coming into each others from the opposite directions. And the dogs are approaching the crossing point as well.