Somewhere along the line, society bought into the idea that boys are tough and girls need to be protected. Who's the marketing genius who instigated this lie???
Case in point: this morning, my 9 year-old boy decided to stop his bike by dragging his body along a pebble-covered street. In his defense, he didn't do this on purpose. He's just a klutz. We were apprised of this catastrophe while reading the Sunday comics and stuffing pancakes into our mouths. - so much for breakfast.
Upon arriving on the scene, I was greeted by a hyperventilating, sobbing 9 year-old boy with a pretty nice case of "road rash," and a bicycle which had once again separated itself from its chain.
Of course, neither my son, nor his confederate could provide any details whatsoever of what happened. In my mind, I've envisioned them mindlessly riding along while my son spontaneously exploded off his seat, but the reality is probably far closer to mundane: stopped watching where he was going, lost balance and face-planted. The "how" is far less important than the results in this case, though.
For the ensuing hour, my rough-and-tumble son blubbered uncontrollably as mommy cleaned and dressed his various boo-boos. Again, his friend peered on, expressionless, seemingly more concerned with whether they were going to resume their bike ride than for the welfare of his fallen comrade.
Across the neighborhood, we have a friend who has two daughters the same age as our tender sons (7 and 9). Unlike our boys, if one held these girls down and ran a cheese grater up and down across their foreheads, they wouldn't cry. No, instead they would look back at the offender with an expression of utter contempt, and mock them "is that all you got?!"
These are girls, for God's sake. Aren't they supposed to be delicate flowers in need of constant protection, and shouldn't boys be the ones jumping off rooftops and trying to decipher the burn-point of TNT???
We're probably left to assume, at some point, the scales will tip the other way, and these girls and boys will take their appropriate places on the toughness continuum, but if what women my age tell me, that balance never happens.
Apparently, whenever men catch a sniffle, they become sniveling masses of blamange, while women can have limbs severed and still be expected to complete the day's chores. While this is always thrown in our faces, and we try to dismiss it, the fact is, I think women are actually tougher than men.
Consider this fact: women deliver children.
Have you ever witnessed this little miracle? Not only does it appear to be horrendously painful, it's also flat-out disgusting. My goodness, what a mess!
If men were expected to produce offspring, this would be a very lonely planet.
Mary: "Hey Bob, wanna have a baby?"
Bob: "Get away from me, Mary."
Seriously, with the exception of possibly two guys I know, not one of us would ever go through pregnancy or birth. NFW!
There you have it. I think chics can kick our male behinds, and we only think we're tougher than them because they (a) let us think that and (b) want us to think that.
What sort of diabolical purpose do these manipulative creatures have for perpetuating such a mis-truth? See? It's their fault. It's always their fault ...
Let me know your thoughts, but be kind. My feelings are tender ...
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