Sex Battle

8/4/23

Sex Battle

Preferred contest for the male of the species [Source]

How boys and girls play raises some interesting thoughts in the context of modern society. The modern tendency to be more protective of children would seem to work against the natural inclinations of boys in many ways. The idea of Stranger Danger might fit well with boys’ tendencies to be on the lookout for the Enemy. But when supervising adults are so alarmed by the threat that they prevent boys from wandering farther afield as part of play, it would seem to restrict their natural development.

Meanwhile, the proliferation of handheld devices with social media apps as a way for adults to connect at all times would seem to feed into girls’ innate inclinations to be concerned with working on interpersonal relationships. In that context, social media on smartphones could be even more inherently addictive for girls than for boys. It does appear that boys use devices for games involving play fighting and perpetual war against the Enemy, whereas girls use the devices as an extended means for working on social relationships at all hours.

Of course, natural inclinations are not everything. Much of raising children involves suppressing some natural inclinations and fostering others. We also call them tendencies and inclinations to indicate that they are not universally felt by everyone in all situations, but rather a general direction many of us feel ourselves drawn towards absent intervening external social pressures.

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It was Arnold Kling’s blog where I first read about Joyce Benenson’s Warriors and Worriers. He found it made him think about the medium- to long-term effects of several industries and academic fields switching from male to female dominance. Viewed through the lens of Benenson’s research, workplace competitiveness should be expected to change from systems that feel natural to men to systems that feel more natural to women.

This would mean a shift to more hidden competition, less self-aggrandizement from achievers, and a more egalitarian feel to the workplace. It would also mean rules of the game that are less clearly defined. This is what we might assume, but it doesn’t have to be that way, of course, if employees and management prefer to do things differently. Because something is an innate tendency doesn’t mean it is a tendency that cannot be overcome.

At any rate, the roots of all this behavior are practiced innocently enough in children’s play. We are still struggling to learn what the absence of opportunities for free play mean for developing women and men soon enough. Maybe. If we can set aside our digital distractions for long enough to notice.

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The Art of Manliness podcast interviewed Dr. Benenson way back in 2016 about her research and her book when it was new. She explained similarities between human and chimp behavior and the evolutionary reasons behind them.