Why Gender Matters

Recently I have been doing a lot of reading around issue of female adolescent socialization and psychology. To be honest I have felt a little like a stranger who really has no business in side this far too complex world. I have read Reviving Ophelia and Queen Bees and Wanna Bees and found them really helpful. You have to understand that I come from a family of just boys (except Mom) and I have sired a family of just boys. So as you can imagine I am/was clueless as to why there seemed to always be they cataclysmic meltdowns in the relationships of the girls in the youth ministry I give direction to. My recent course on Adolescent Development gave me just the ticket/excuse to study this stuff. But by far the most helpful book I have read on gender differences and implications on school, social behaviour and a bunch of other stuff has been Leonard Sax’s book. Seriously, everybody who is a parent or wanting to become one (or pleading with his wife to start being one in the case of Trevor Dormer) should read this book. Of course there are other great books and material out there on this topic and maybe you bloggers could enlighten us all with resources you have found valuable in this regard.
But this posting has lighter side to it as well. (Basically I am throwing Jan a bone on this one). Sax includes a test for masculinity and femininity. I am going to include his test for masculinity (which girls can take too by the way) and if there is interest I will include the fem one too. Here’s what you do. Answer all the questions in your comment on this post and I will tally the points and whammo I will tell you how masc. you really are.
1. When somebody has to take charge/care of things,
a. I put myself forward more often than not.
b. I usually wait for someone else to take the lead.

2. Talking about football, “First ‘n goal” refers to
a. The first team to score in the game
b. A call the referee makes to give the other team positional advantage
c. The first attempt to carry the ball into the endzone.
d. I have no idea

3. It’s easy for me to make up my mind about things, even before I know all the facts
a. Most of the time
b. Sometimes
c. Not very often

4. If I have to do something I’ve never done before, Id rather try to figure our how to do it on my own first, even if I have to work at it for an hour, before I ask someone else to show me how to do it.
a. True
b. False; I’m comfortable asking others for help

5. When I play a game, I often get upset if I don’t win.
a. True
b. False

6. I can get people to do what I want them to do, even when they don’t want to.
a. Most of the time
b. Sometimes
c. Not very often.

7. I think I would look better if I gained ten pounds of muscle or was a bit taller.
a. True
b. False

8. When I am reading, I prefer
a. A quiet room, so I can concentrate better and not be distracted
b. Music or TV playing in the background, but not too loud. I don’t like it too quiet.
c. I don’t care – makes no difference whether there’s noise or not
d. Not applicable. I don’t read much.

9. If I want to do something, and a knowledgeable acquaintance tells me that it might be dangerous or risky.
a. I’ll probably go ahead with it anyway
b. I might change my plans
c. Not applicable – I don’t usually do things that people would consider risky or dangerous

10. I’m smarter than you could tell if you only looked at my grades in school.
a. True
b. False