Monday, April 24, 2006

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

17 comments:

Teach said...

okay, I'll play. I'm comfortable in my masculinity.
1. a
2. d - I hate football, now hockey, that's a real man's sport!
3. b
4. a
5. b - except when Dale cleans me out at poker :>
6. b
7. b - I'm perfect the way I am!
8. d
9. a
10. b

There ya go, what's my score?
BTW Dale: I posted the answers to my game on my blog.

Increasing... said...

james
thanks for playing
i will post scores when everyone who is daring enough has posted so there is no advantage
you know the male way of doing things
any way thanks for your game as well
i quite enjoyed it myself even though I clearly am far less estute than you are.

Jan said...

All right dale, here it is:
1. a

2. d - not a sports fan, there are far more masculine things to do then watch a couple guys run around in tights

3. b.

4. a - im not shy when it comes to asking for help

5. a - i hate loosing computer games

6. c

7. a - i must admit i am a "gym rat"

8. b

9. a - sometimes you need to learn things the hard way

10. a

Increasing... said...

i like your chances :)

Anonymous said...

Okay you asked, so here are my answers:
#1 is a and the others are all b. That's my answer and I'm sticking to it!

Natasha said...

Ooh, fun, post the fem questions too!!!
Here are my answers:
1 - a
2 - d
3 - b
4 - b
5 - b
6 - a
7 - a (the taller part, not the muscle part!!)
8 - a
9 - b
10 - b

Jesse said...

1 - a
2 - c
3 - b
4 - a
5 - a (I don't really play sports, so I went with when I play mind games with others - of which I always have to win)
6 - a
7 - b
8 - d
9 - a
10 - a

Increasing... said...

natasha the fem will come
so far the ranking of respondants is as follows from most masc to least
Jesse
Jan
Teach
Natasha
and
my dear old mom
lots of room for people to sneak up the middle though...

Jesse said...

WooHoo! Who's the man!?!

Balmy Eva said...

It is my guess that the fem test is based on whether or not you answer these questions. For example, most tests of this nature are in books/magazines geared for the prettier sex (because they are more prone to answer them i guess), therefore if my logic is correct...you rank 10/10 fem and 0/10 masculine just for answering the questions. Sorry James, I think you're probably fairly masculine - i've seen you lift things.

Increasing... said...

oh balmy you're breaking my heart,
a little Shakespeare comes to mind...
"Me thinks he doth protest too loudly."

Teach said...

It's okay Ev, I'm secure in that and think that since having kids, it has openned up my sensitive side a little more, but my muscles are still functional and I still enjoy playing a good game of basketball, so I feel manly enough

Balmy Eva said...

Yeah sorry, I meant no harm, just a little fun for a guy drowning in tax returns. Here are my answers:
b, c, c, a, a, c, b, a, b, b

Thanks guys

Increasing... said...

wow what contrition
here's hoping the taxes are over soon and the baby comes out soon
etc.
I love you buddy
sorry about the Shakespeare

Increasing... said...

actually you rank lower than James.
but that is only according to this guy. And i mean with a name like SAX come on...
no worries
we'll getcha

Proffreezer said...

1a
2c
3a
4a
5b
6c
7a
8a
9b
10a

Do you find it hard to get guys to fill out these blasted questionaires? Guys don't like these things because they are screwed not matter what they score. Too masculine and you are a pigheaded dumbo and too feminine and you are labeled gay. I'm convinved it must have been women who first developed the "questionaire" in order to mess the other gender up completely. (Part of the whole world dominance agenda)

Clinton said...

Sorry, Dale, didn't realize it meant so much to you to measure yourself against others by psychobabble questionaires or I would have responded long ago. :)
1. b
2. c
3. a
4. true
5. false
6. a
7. false
8. c
9. a
10. true