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Girls Are Smarter Than Boys (Or at Least They Think They Are!)
“Anything boys can do, girls can do better,” goes the classic song from “Annie Get Your Gun.”
Girls are smarter than boys too, at least the girls think so. New research suggests that from the age of four, girls believe they are smarter, better behaved, and more hard- working than boys, according to BBC News.
By the time boys reached the age of eight, they agreed with the girls’ perceptions that they were better at all these things, according to the study from the University of Kent.
To conduct the study, researchers questioned 238 children from the age of 4-10. Presented with a series of statements such as ”this child is really clever” and “this child always finishes their work,” the children in the study were then asked to point to a picture of a boy or a girl to indicate who they thought the statement was referring.
From age 4, the girls responses indicated that they thought girls were smarter, performed better at school and were generally better behaved than the boys.
The younger boys’ responses were equally divided between boys and girls, but by the time they reached 8, they agreed that girls were better at school.
Both boys and girls said that they though that grown-ups believed that girls did better than boys at school. I wonder if most adults do, in fact, hold that belief.
Bonny Hartley will present the research today at the annual conference of the British Educational Research Association. Hartley warns against the use of language which instills stereotypes such as “silly boys” or “school boy pranks.” In England, boys do, in fact, lag behind girls in elementary school performance. But Hartley wonders whether it is partially a self-fulfilling prophesy.
Even those of us who are acutely conscious of gendered language occasionally fall into assumptions and stereotypes about boys and girls. I’ve certainly heard my fair share of “Boys will be boys” and “what a pretty girl!”
“I stubbornly refuse to divide the world into boy/girl, pink/blue, rowdy/serene,” my Strollerderby colleague Madeline Holler wrote recently. I agree with Holler’s sentiment, but in a pink and blue world, it’s sometimes hard not to take sides.
I admit that as the mother of two girls, I find it amusing when they proclaim, “Girls Rule. Boys Drool!”
Do you think there’s any truth to the stereotype that girls are smarter than boys?
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Photo: flickr/bionicteaching
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Parenting Child Behavior | Strollerderby commented on Sep 14 10 at 10:26 amalison commented on Sep 02 10 at 10:50 amWhatever stereotypes may exist, they evaporate by the time girls hit puberty and get the message (from society at large, if not from their parents and peers) that being smart (which isn’t the same as doing well in school) is a bad thing for girls to be and, by the time girls hit the workforce, they learn they only earn 70 cents for every dollar their male coworkers, and it really is irrelevant if they believe themselves to be smarter.
Marj commented on Sep 02 10 at 12:40 pmI think it may stem from a gender culture thing, at least partially. Girls aren’t rewarded socially for acting rowdy and boys are.
michelle commented on Sep 02 10 at 2:37 pmI don’t think either gender is “smarter.” I think girls are taught from an early age to sit nicely, obey rules and be quiet, and that rowdiness, rule-breaking, etc are only acceptable in boys. This serves girls well in school, but later in life, when risk-taking, assertive behavior and out of the box thinking are necessary to be a successful adult (think entrepreneurship, or major scientific discoveries), women find themselves at a disadvantage.
Julie Q commented on Sep 12 10 at 12:30 pmComments
The fact that girls CAN sit still and boys cannot is found in their DNA. Females fine motor skills, such as cutting and pasting, develop sooner. Males large muscles develop faster so sitting “still” is difficult. Schools are geared towards female traits and teachers show a preference for girls because they do sit quietly and do their work, neatly, I might add. This is all about perception.
We also malign boys with Snips and Snails and Puppydog Tails (Boys) and Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice (Girls). Even the author doessn’t “get it” with her glee at “Girls Rule and Boys Drool.”
Don’t most girls have fathers and brothers. Don’t they expect to get married to one to these icky, stupid, drooling males someday? Maybe have a son of her own? As the mother of two adult sons and a Men’s Rights advocate, let’s cut the gender bias and the nasty comments towards men and boys. Boys are the ones who grow up to be men who also become firemen and policemen and join the military to serve all of society often sacrificing their own lives in the process.
Stop the male bashing.
Av commented on May 10 11 at 9:52 pmI fully think that I will never be smarter than any boy.
It’s obvious. Boys are better in every way. Whenever I think of a plus side for being a girl…hm…oh, wait! I can’t.
They’re the ones who always accomplish everything!
Boys are smarter than us and they always will be. Get over it, and go back to the kitchen where we belong.
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