What Are Little Boys Made of? --- Quotes

Growing up I can't even count the number of times I've heard some say to a boy, "Just suck it up", "Quit being a sissy", or worse"your acting like a girl." These are all statements meant to teach boys that it isn't okay to show emotions. It makes them feel like if they are sad about something and shed a tear that it isn't okay. This always made me feel bad for boys that are told this. everyone needs to show emotion, its the healthy thing to do.  This reminds me of the piece in the text where it states "In Real Boys Pollack calls it 'The Boy Code' and 'mask of masculinity'- a kind of swaggering attitude that boys embrace to hide their fears, suppress dependency and vulnerability, and present a stoic front." I think that showing too much emotion in our society for a male, is depicted as being less masculine.
Another thing that struck me in this article was the idea that boys are so much more likely to misbehave and not do well in school. Also, that boys are at a predisposition to misbehave and be rambunctious.

"It's nature, not nurture, that propels boys towards obnoxious behavior, violence, and sadistic experiments on insects..... "boyhood is defective". it is possible that boys are biologically wired to have more energy, but there are obviously ways to channel this energy other than destructive behaviors. It is not an excuse to go run around and commit violent acts and be like, " oh sorry I'm a boy i cant help it". There are plenty of men and young boys out there that participate in, healthy, energy releasing activities and focus it in a positive way. 

Finally, It is said that "In adolescence both boys and girls get their first real dose of gender inequality, and that is what explains their different paths.' Girls realize that sometimes boys really do have the upper hand. But i also think that boys notice things about girls too that maybe we get more attention then they do. I think that the inequality goes back and forth and it is not perfectly equal on either side. The stigmas  do not hold only true to boys. there is plenty of it for the girls too. That we aren't as good at math as boys, we aren't as strong as them, we have less common sense, etc. Until all the Ism's in society are gone, we are still going to see these stigmas.