Boys Will Be Boys Summary

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Windy Sizemore
Post 1 Being an educator, it is important to understand the roles of gender in the educational setting. Pollack (2002) specifies three myths and truths common to male gender. I was struck with the realization of how prevalent and tainted these common myths are as I read: Boys will be boys, Boys should be boys, and Boys are toxic. I have personally used the phrase boys will be boys and have referred to the excess of testosterone in misbehaving boys as a mother of two boys and an educator of many through the last 16 years. Based on Pollack’s (2002) research of boy behaviors that type of thinking is a myth. In fact, he states “The level of testosterone in any boy- and the way that testosterone affects him- has less impact on his behavior than how the boy is loved, nurtured, and shaped by his parents…” (p. 92). The myth boys should be boys can be just as hurtful. Boys that are not rough “enough” or tough “enough” are left feeling ashamed for not being like other boys according to Pollack (2002). Pollack’s findings and explanations have left me to question my own beliefs and actions as they relate to the expectations of the male gender. …show more content…

Gurian’s (2002) findings cite brain differences in males and females as the reason for generalized behaviors such as boys being more aggressive, more active, and more sexually driven, just to name a few. To some degree it would seem that to accede to this theory is to go back to “Boys will be boys” mentality accepting that boys cannot help their bad behaviors as they are driven to act irrationally based on how their male brain

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