Sons & daughters, is there a difference in behaviour?

[lilystyles]

I am curious about this topic. There has been a lot in the press lately about whether boys & girls behave differently and whether this is nature/nurture. One study showed women gave their sons preferential treatment (this is certainly not true for me). In general I find my daughter to be more independent & have a quicker & quite fiery temper and my son to be very affectionate & quite chilled out in comparison. Obviuosly this may well be down to charater rather than sex, I really don't know, what do you think about the whole topic?

I have a son and a daughter and their behaviour is different but I think because they are different people.

My DD is more chilled out than my DS so the opposite of yours .

I think that if you asked the same question to people with more than one child of the same sex that they are likely to say that the characters are different as well.

What Noah said. All of it.

'Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus' That's all you need to know YES they are very different. Born different, behave differently, develop differently and grow up to be different. I beleive fundementally, nurture develops additional traits, but nature sets the mould ifswim.

The author of 'Delusions of Gender' would disagree with you, MadameSin.

Short article by her in the Guardian here

If you Google it you'll find more reviews, interviews and discussion.

I think a lot has to do with expectations, so a trait in one sex is encouraged but not in the other, so a quiet girl is admired but a quiet boy gets encouraged to not be quiet.

Also, the choices presented to children is really narrowed from a very young age, even down to toys being in separate aisles as per gender and colours presented as being appropriate.

In the middle ages women were expected to sew, it was a woman's job, and a man's job to be a hedger or ditcher. That was societal expectation, there was also class expectation in that upper class ladies did not sully their hands with manual work, while a peasant woman had to work like a Trojan. Upper class parents did not do much child rearing, it was all done by servants. Upper class ladies did not breastfeed, they hired wet nurses etc.

Girls do tend to develop boobs and boys don't so there are SOME differences that are down to nature!!!!!

I have three DCs - two girls and one boy. I would say that DD2 and DS are more similar in behaviour and temperament than DD1 and DD2. No obvious gender differences in our house just different kids.

I'm not referring to physical ability, rather than emotional differences. I feel men and men approach 'things' differently. Yes, agree much has to do with the person they are, but I still feel naturally occurring gender difference are present in all of us. Lio she writes in the Guardian ... doesn't that say it all ????

Oooops should have read 'men & women'

My children all behave differently from each other. One boy, three girls. I think it's a personality thing.

There is a difference between nmy son and my daughters but also a difference between my daughters so it is hard to tell what is a gender thing and what is just personality. The only difference between hum and the three girls is which is common is that he much more likely to be scared of things I.e he is terrified of firemen ir fire engines, the dark, robots I could go on! I cant think of anything any of the girls ar oarticularly scared of! I'm hoping he will grow out of it he's only 3 so I'll give him time :)

ds and dd2 enjoy nothing more than rolling round on the floor trying to kill each other

dd2 is far more independent and inquisitive than dd1

dd1 can slam doors and stamp with the best of them

they are all awful in their own special ways

Mine keep chopping and changing, so just when I think I've got them nailed down they change roles.

Dd used to be really dramatic, sensitive, angry- is now a very mature teenager with a great ability to laugh at herself, albeit with a tendency to depression.

Ds was the most laidback toddler/small child you could imagine, always smiling, very gentle, family peace maker- is now very rebellious, very negative, quite angry.

Have 4 ds who are completely different and 1 dd. Ds 1 not a 'sporty' boy at all loves art, anything creative he is not very independent and last to be ready each morning.He is very even tempered. Ds 2 is very athletic and bright in school, but not interested in doing whats asked of him. He can go for weeks without a strop but when he loses it, oh dear. Ds 3 very sensitive child who cries on a daily basis. He can be hard work at times as he needs constant reassurance. But his behaviour is generally good. Ds4 is 2 and 1/2 he could 'buy and sell you' as they say. He is probably the naughtiest we've had. Dd is 8months so she still has to show her true colours.