Totally winging this. Bear with me.
THIS IS WHAT WE MAKE YOU BE AS A SOCIETY
Gender
You need to understand what gender is and that it is a social construct.
Boys and girls are raised differently by their families and society based on those social constructs.
The social constructs are actually stereotypes.
That sets the perception of what constitutes a boy and girl in place.
Example: Boys toys vs. girls toys. Boy colors vs. girl colors.
Gender is what society molds you to be.
Gender is based on stereotyping a person as say a boy or a girl.
When a child is approx. 3 years old they will tell you that they are a boy or a girl.
They can do this because they were taught they were a boy or a girl with specific and distinct characteristics.
Boys (generalized stereotypes that inform our behavior and self identity, self concept)
Parents treat and physically handle young boys differently than girls.
Parents are rougher with boys.
Parents are less inclined to discuss emotional states with their boys.
Boys are tougher.
Boys are strong.
Boys don't cry.
Boys don't wear pink colors. Girls wear pink.
Boys don't wear ruffles. Girls wear ruffles.
Girls (generalized stereotypes that inform our behavior and self identity, self concept)
Parents are more tender and physically gentle in handling their girls.
Parents are more inclined to see their girls as more emotional and therefore tend to the emotions of girls.
Girls are weaker and more fragile.
Girls cry when emotional.
Boys move. Girls talk. There is actually some support for that.
The Wonder of Boys by Michael Gurian from the
Gurian Institute
He has all sorts of books regarding gender and development. He'll email you to talk if you want.
Lesser on my list...
Boys Changing the Classroom, Dan Hodgins
I say lesser only because I think he failed to adequately support his theories scientifically BUT his theories are born out in my 3 decades or so.
Markk...there is a thing called the feminization of the classroom. Typically our classrooms are set up by females FOR females because we function based on stereotypes and our own experience, needs, and preferences. People like Gurian and Hodgins (now deceased) work to increase awareness. I had to work to undo my own techniques, approaches, to the environment and interactions to make my classroom more hospitable to boys and more likely to meet their biological needs. That's a project I documented the last 2 years of my teaching career. Very interesting results! It was freaking awesome!!
[/babbling] which is why I'm trying to avoid participating here.
I'm not ready to jump back in yet really. Had a challenging day over here. Anyway...