Reply #62: I went to a truly facsinating lecture about a month ago

[Amelie]

about hard-wired differences between boys and girls. The lecturer said the push for gender-neutral toys were a response to the hard-line attitudes in the 50s; girls could only be housewives, nurses or teachers; boys were expected to be tough and athletic. He believes that we can have equal opportunity without ignoring very real differences in gender. He also made clear that all studies show there are NO differences in ability; the differences are in motivation.

Now that we are so advanced in neuroscience, we see that the brains in the genders develop at different rates and in different sequences. At age five, a girl's fine motor skills are four years ahead of a boy's. The boy's gross motor skills are four years ahead of a girl's. So, we see girls tend to be better at drawing; boys tend to be better at throwing and kicking.

As we become adults, our brains even out; there are very few differences between a man's brain and a woman's; it's mostly hormonal. But the developmental differences between a boy's brain and a girl's brain are vastly different. For example, adults can sit still and pay attention for about the same amount of time. Not so for six year old boys and six year old girls. Blood flow to a boy's brain actually slows down when he sits still; maybe he can sit still, but he's probably not absorbing as much information. Boys learn better when they are in motion (aka "fidgeting in their desks").

Very interesting lecture.