Boys Vs Girls Spencer Summary

In the article, “Boys vs. Girls: Who’s Harder to Raise”, on Parenting.com, by Paula Spencer, the author looks at differences in gender in specific categories, in determining who is more difficult to raise. The author makes generalizations about boys and girls behavior based on her own personal experiences and challenges of raising boys and girls. She focuses specifically on differences in discipline, physical safety, communication, self-esteem and schooling. For each category, she states which gender is harder to raise. Her statements are biased based on her own experiences and stereotypically specific to American culture. Spencer maintains a primarily biological (“nature”) perspective as the primary cause of a child’s behavior and development.
As an American parent of three daughters and one son, Spencer has an

The author could have easily used a more positive word – easier, instead. If a task is harder than another task, by definition, the other task must be easier. The first half of the article title, “Boys vs. Girls”, presents raising children as a competition, with one sex triumphing over the other. The author declares the “winner” in each category by declaring who is harder. The author maintains that in each category, gender differentiations present at birth is the primary cause of many behaviors in a child’s

She bases her conclusion primary on biological theories of nature’s influence over the development of children. Children are passive players in their own development. According to Spencer, environment’s role in development is to guide the development of what is already present and transpiring in the child. She bases her opinions upon her experiences with her own