Boys vs. Girls

The comparison between boys and girls has been one of the most discussed topics among people. Even though boys and girls are quite different bases on biological as well as physical features, there are important similarities as well. Therefore, for today’s blog, we want to discuss both ideas, which are the differences and similarities between those two genders, which also covers information on the way they express feelings, ideas. Now, let us dive straight into this thrilling topic.

DIFFERENCES

BRAIN DIFFERENCES

Curious about some stereotypical behavior you have noticed, or wondering how girls are differ to boys. It turns out that gender differences are not that significant. According to curiosity.com, a group of UK researchers has investigated and made statistics on the differences in the brains of men and women in terms of structure and function, by looking at approximately 5,216 brains in total. They have stated that men prefer objects while women tend to like people more, even in infancy, which also means men are generally better at rotating objects in their minds, while women have superior language skills. In addition, men have a better working memory than women; opposite from women are better at retrieving information from long-term memory. Although boys have bigger brains than girls have and are often considered smarter, girls’ brains tended to have a thicker cerebral cortex. That resulted in being better at explaining some of the human’s advanced cognitive capabilities, which leads to differences in emotions and way of reacting. For the same kind of tasks, girls tend to use both their cerebral hemispheres more equally, that explains why in some situation, girls solve problems better than boys. Girls often have a larger hippocampus, our human memory center. This gender also often have a higher density of neural connections into the hippocampus. Also, girls can handle stress better than boys. As a result, girls and women tend to input or absorb more sensorial and emotive information than the opposite side does. Both girls and boys release the hormone oxytocin during stressful events. However, female estrogen combines with oxytocin to produce a calming effect, whereas male testosterone only makes men more aggressive. “It is entirely plausible from a neurological perspective that there’s an underlying biological component to this difference people are seeing,” said Larry Cahill, a professor of neurobiology and behavior at the University of California, Irvine, who has spent two decades researching gender differences in the brain. Time after time, many opinions and ideas have occurred but none of them is 100% accurate because there are still plenty of questions about different genders’ brain structures.

EXPRESSING EMOTIONS

Are girls more emotional than boys? Well, maybe. This is a common question that usually appears in our daily life, and the answer can be a Yes but also a No. According to a recent study led by Tara M. Chaplin of the Department of Psychiatry at Yale University School of Medicine, boys and girls have a very different emotional inclination, but these vary depending on age and context. Chaplin looked at internalizing and externalizing emotions as well as positive and negative expressions. The study revealed some alluring facts. She found that in babyhood, the boys and girls demonstrated similar emotional displays. However, as the children grow older, notable differences appear. The boys tended to show anger and aggression than the girls. These actions were only conspicuous when the children were in the presence of strangers. When they were with their parents, the children expressed a wide variety of different emotions. Although these emotional differences were very noticeable during the young ages, they were less revealing as the children matured. For instance, outer behaviors decreased in the boys. Also, boys felt more joy than girls when they had the chance to taunt or tease another individual. This is so disturbing because this could put these boys at a higher risk of participating in bullying and other aggressive behaviors. Are girls more emotional than boys? This depends on the type of emotion, how it is measured, where it is expressed, and lots of other factors. According to statistics and survey data, gender differences were found overall, with girls showing more positive emotions and internalizing emotions, such as sadness, anxiety, sympathy than boys. Conversely, boys showing more externalizing emotions than girls. Gender differences in positive emotions were more pronounced with increasing age, with girls showing more positive emotions than boys in middle childhood and adolescence. Boys showed more externalizing emotions than girls at toddler or preschool age and middle childhood and fewer externalizing emotions than girls in adolescence.

SIMILARTIES

Despite the numerous amount of differences between the two genders, boys and girls still share some similarities in both physical and mental aspects. Noticeably, males and females both are affected by puberty. These physical changes come in many forms, for example, body hairs growing in public areas, sweat glands start to grow, make underarm sweating, hair and skin oilier, as well as acne, which may break out if hormone levels rise. This modification also occurs mentally though emotions as their body continue to grow. Gender similarities hypothesis, proposed by Hyde (2005) has stated that males and females are similar on most, but not all, psychological variables. Based on Hyde’s study, gender similarities were mostly found in self-esteem, self-disclosure, and math performance and reading comprehension. Although boys and girls may be affected differently, feelings such as confusion, fatigue and lack of emotional control are common to both genders. Boys and girls experience the feelings of awkwardness and embarrassment, both display their aggression, but in their different ways. Their influence is also displayed through assertion. Finally, both of them are capable of negative thoughts, such as acting suicidal. Verbal and spatial abilities of boys and girls are relatively similar from ages 9 to 13. Currently, more girls are taking advanced math classes with boys, for example, calculus. In conclusion, boys and girls both have common similarities in the way they express their feelings and physical changes

In conclusion, we believe that there are certain differences both physically and mentally between boys and girls. However, we believe that the differences are created for us to find our perfect match. In other words, everything happens for a reason and we think the differences, as well as similarities, existed for us to share, love and respect one another and to create a better society with the diversity of personality, hobbies and appearances.