Boys Will Be Boys Why Gender Matters

Claremont Review of Books ^ | November 30, 2005 | Steve Sailer

[tbird5]

Until last winter, I had assumed that fundamentalist feminism had peaked in the early 1990s with the Anita Hill brouhaha, and that Bill Clinton's political survival in 1998, which hinged on his near-unanimous support from hypocritical feminists, ended the era in which anyone took feminism seriously.

The Larry Summers fiasco, however, showed that while feminism may have entered its Brezhnev Era intellectually, it still commands the institutional equivalent of Brezhnev's thousands of tanks and nuclear missiles. After just a few days, Harvard President Lawrence Summers caved in to critics of his off-hand comment that nature, not invidious discriminations alone, might be to blame for the lower percentage of women who study math and science. In short order, he propitiated the feminists by promising, in effect, to spend $50 million taking teaching and research opportunities at Harvard away from male jobseekers and giving them to less talented women.

Perhaps in a saner society, then, we would have less need for Leonard Sax's engaging combination of popular science exposition and advice guidebook, Why Gender Matters: What Parents and Teachers Need to Know about the Emerging Science of Sex Differences. But parents as well as professors could benefit from it now.

[SteveMcKing]

The problem that Leftists face with the emasculation of our culture is that it requires a constant and artificial struggle against human nature. Even transient suspension of "the rules" of multiculturalism, etc, can permanently awaken one to the possibility of a free, independent, and decidedly proud life. One's will (one's manhood) will rapidly revert to its natural state without intervention.

So too is the next generation always in need of the same psychological conditioning that produced the previous crop of blind idiots, enslaved to the point of believing explicit and harmful self-denigration is a matter of one's pride. How quickly they will trounce their elders in all spheres, should they fail the processing inflicted by academia and liberal social policy... should they be men.

But that's why pills and therapy exist. In the coming genetic revolution, our very germ line will be altered to select for feminine traits. They can not fool mother nature - and so they intend to operate on her.

[Paleo Conservative]

Girls will be boys and boys will be girls
It’s a mixed up muddled up shook up world except for lola
Lo-lo-lo-lo lola

[Fido969]

You know after my wife (ex-wife now, thank you) left me I didn't know how I would survive. Anyway, after a week I found out that if I put my clothes in the big white box with some soap and turn the dial, they get clean. I found that if I put my underwear IN the hamper, the room gets picked up. Washing dishes, sweeping and vaccumming took only a few minutes a day.

I started wondering - what on earth was it that she was doing her all that time while I was working late, or in the yard or on the car, running errands and taking care of the kids?

Anyway I finally figured out that a man needs a woman like a fish needs a bicycle, or something. Really, there is NOTHING a woman can do better than me.

This "You GO, girl!" crap, what kind of nonsense is that? Really, sex is the only thing they are good at, and even then, most of them are just plain lousy at THAT.

[SteveMcKing]

Real progress.... Welcome back!

[Plutarch]

Gender is for grammar, sex is for people.

5 entries found for gender.

gen·der    ( P )  Pronunciation Key  (jndr)
n.

1. Grammar.
   1. A grammatical category used in the classification of nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and, in some languages, verbs that may be arbitrary or based on characteristics such as sex or animacy and that determines agreement with or selection of modifiers, referents, or grammatical forms.
   2. One category of such a set.
   3. The classification of a word or grammatical form in such a category.
   4. The distinguishing form or forms used.
2. Sexual identity, especially in relation to society or culture.
3. 1. The condition of being female or male; sex.
   2. Females or males considered as a group: expressions used by one gender.

tr.v. gen·dered, gen·der·ing, gen·ders

To engender.

---

[Middle English gendre, from Old French, kind, gender, from Latin genus, gener-. See gen- in Indo-European Roots.]

---

gender·less adj.

Usage Note: Traditionally, gender has been used primarily to refer to the grammatical categories of “masculine,” “feminine,” and “neuter,” but in recent years the word has become well established in its use to refer to sex-based categories, as in phrases such as gender gap and the politics of gender. This usage is supported by the practice of many anthropologists, who reserve sex for reference to biological categories, while using gender to refer to social or cultural categories. According to this rule, one would say The effectiveness of the medication appears to depend on the sex (not gender) of the patient, but In peasant societies, gender (not sex) roles are likely to be more clearly defined. This distinction is useful in principle, but it is by no means widely observed, and considerable variation in usage occurs at all levels.

[Aracelis]

It really is too bad that you chose to post the most biased selection from this article, for had you read any further you might have stumbled upon the following nugget:

Sax argues: Here's the paradox: coed schools tend to reinforce gender stereotypes.… There is now very strong evidence that girls are more likely to take courses such as computer science and physics in girls-only schools…. Boys in single-sex schools are more than twice as likely to study art, music, foreign languages, and literature as boys of equal ability attending comparable coed schools.

What you seem to advocate is maintaining stereotypical behavior, rather than encouraging the individual to succeed at whatever he or she is good at and wishes to pursue.

So you've got a gripe against women...big deal. I got a few gripes against some men, but that does not prevent me from interacting with them in a civil manner. As I've stated on another thread, I find men on the whole to be fascinating, but frustrating. However I'll put up with the frustration for the benefit of positive and mutually enriching social discourse.

Perhaps you might consider advocating same-sex schools to facilitate the growth of the individual. It would seem to me a better cause to champion the development of brain-power, regardless of gender, for our nation's continued preeminence in the world, rather than resorting to the old and tired mantra that "feminism" is entirely to blame for the current state of affairs.

[Aracelis]

Really, sex is the only thing they are good at, and even then, most of them are just plain lousy at THAT.

Quite an interesting and revealing comment. Curiously enough, almost every woman I've ever met had precisely the same thing to say about men.

Hopefully you've discovered autoeroticism, for it would sadden me to know that somewhere there exists a woman who has to endure your lack of talent in the bedroom.

[Fido969]

endure your lack of talent in the bedroom

Honey, they squeal for joy when I exhibit my "talent". If you MUST know, my wife left me for another women. However being married to a lesbian for 13 years, while frustrating for me - well, if I got nothing else out of it I learned how to please a woman, if you know what I mean.

But they're wacko. They get moody and bitchy and lazy. They don't want to do anything. They get fat and sit around the house. Then I go and do fun stuff by myself or with one of my buds.

After a while it's like "Why bother"?

[Aracelis]

But they're wacko. They get moody and bitchy and lazy. They don't want to do anything. They get fat and sit around the house.

Hmmm...sounds like my husband, and the husbands and male friends of many women I know. I assume therefore that these traits are not gender-specific. Perhaps this behavior could then be considered simply a typical human failing, and not the fault of a preponderance of one set of hormones over another?

A retraction of your previous statement might be in order.

[Fido969]

A retraction of your previous statement might be in order.

Why? I am just relating my experience. Boring men who sit around the house all the time? Don't seem to run into any. Or I just don't see them, or something. Wacko women? Well, that's a different story - I run into them ALL THE TIME.

Look, I am getting old. I don't need to please anyone else. Life is getting short, there are things I want to do. And I don't NEED a women, I don't NEED a relationship. If I decide I WANT one, I'll let you know.

Peace.

[Aracelis]

I don't NEED a relationship. If I decide I WANT one, I'll let you know.

Sorry sweetie, my dance card is full. Don't let me know.

[Northern Alliance]

There is now very strong evidence that girls are more likely to take courses such as computer science and physics in girls-only schools

Of course they are. If there were boys there, they would see how hopelessly inferior most of them are in those disciples. As there are females only, they will get a false sense of accomplishment.

It's kinda like saying more white kids will turn out for the basketball team if there were no blacks in the school.

However, there are always exceptions. I know some very, very good female I.T. people but they are technical book authors and/or teachers rather than hands-on.

[Northern Alliance]

Typo disciple=discipline

[Caipirabob]

Don't give up hope. There are many, many good and decent women out there. The most important thing is to not surrender to anger or hatred. I know that sounds like Psycho-goo, but it's simply the truth. Find the things that you valued all along and focus on those things, like God, family and friends. Healing will come.

Sorry to blather, but I've seen this happen before. It's not the end, and it's no reason to condemn all women over one bad apple.

[marktwain]

"Hopefully you've discovered autoeroticism, for it would sadden me to know that somewhere there exists a woman who has to endure your lack of talent in the bedroom"

His post does not require a personal attack. With a personal attack, you are going over the line.

Having said that, I have had conversations with a girl friend that came out much the same. To me (as a man) men seemed clearly more intelligent and competent than women. She saw exactly the same thing... only with the sexes reversed. So, this is likely a bias of perception.

Now for the famous Rodney King quote: Can't we all just get along?

[jazzlite]

..."You know after my wife (ex-wife now, thank you) left me I didn't know how I would survive. Anyway, after a week I found out that if I put my clothes in the big white box with some soap and turn the dial, they get clean. I found that if I put my underwear IN the hamper, the room gets picked up. Washing dishes, sweeping and vaccumming took only a few minutes a day.

I started wondering - what on earth was it that she was doing her all that time while I was working late, or in the yard or on the car, running errands and taking care of the kids?

Anyway I finally figured out that a man needs a woman like a fish needs a bicycle, or something. Really, there is NOTHING a woman can do better than me.

This "You GO, girl!" crap, what kind of nonsense is that? Really, sex is the only thing they are good at, and even then, most of them are just plain lousy at THAT."....

Sounds to me like you are getting over a "raw" deal. While your sentiments might fit with life in the jungle, women are equipped for much more than you suggest. God gave separate and distinct roles to each gender and each one is as important as the other. For example, many males lack the empathy of females and of the need to touch and cuddle if sex isn't involved. Without the simple act of cuddling, many children would not survive psychologically. Many fathers have to rear children but I can tell you, I am horrified at the thought that my husband might have reared ours. He is a great father but does not have the soft and fuzzy side required for small children. He says that is woman's work and I was happy to fill in. Our children are adults now and they are great parents themselves, fitting properly into the gender roles nature provided for them, though the girls have advanced degrees and one is a lawyer. One of the most important functions for women is the transmission of knowledge and culture to the next generation. Had it not been for women in the Dark Ages, civilization might have died out for too many men had died and had been killed in war. We do not have to degrade one gender to lift the other up. Both are vitally important. In our nation, we do face danger in this respect because of the attempts by the feminists and the leftists to distort and destroy true gender roles. Make no mistake though, if this nation "stumps" it's toe, nature will quickly assert herself and all will return to what she dictates. I hope your life will become happy and peaceful and that you will find someone who will allow you to be the man God intended for you to be. Merry Christmas and Happy 2006. And, GOD BLESS US, EVERYONE!

[SteveMcKing]

What you seem to advocate is maintaining stereotypical behavior, rather than encouraging the individual to succeed at whatever he or she is good at and wishes to pursue.

Today, there is more "stereotype" present in the forced and unnatural programs of affirmative action and victim-based opportunity grants than there ever was before androgeny became a political agenda. Individual initiative is the ultimate sin of such policy, fiercely racist/sexist/anti-gay in its implementation - it knows no true measure of tolerance or reward for good qualities. Quite the opposite, it baits and enslaves our entire culture toward its current degenerate state.

[Aracelis]

If there were boys there, they would see how hopelessly inferior most of them are in those disciples. As there are females only, they will get a false sense of accomplishment.

First of all, the word is "disciplines"...not "disciples". Secondly, please don't ever breed.