“My sons are absolute chaos at home,” a friend recently lamented, wishing they would sometimes sit quietly and draw “like girls do”. Yet, when her son came to my house for a playdate, he sat and drew happily for with my children, a boy (7) and girl (9), who both sometimes sit and draw for hours on end.
Another time when my son crashed his bike into a stationary car, another mother remarked: “That’s just boys for you.” In reality, it was just bad luck and the accident had nothing to do with his gender.
All too often, at the school gate and on social media I hear parents talk about how rough and loud boys are compared to girls, and how socially complex girl friendships are. I tend to offer a counter view -and explain that both my children can be noisy and both enjoy quiet activities.
But the myths that girls are naturally meeker and more emotional while boys are louder and harder work when young, persist. These stereotypes have damaging consequences for girls and boys.
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