Girls have
yet to catch up with the boys in exploring, embracing and creating the 21st
century. That’s our conclusion after talking with Willie about the boys and
girls in his generation.
Boys are
introspective, he said. They are unstructured. And they are concerned and
focused about their relationship vis a vis the external world. It’s a me versus world relationship.
Girls,
Willie said, are still concerned and focused about fitting into the existing
external environment. Girls are also structured.
To
illustrate, Willie said he was sitting on a plane next to a female friend of
his. She was telling him how she was
forming a “Students United” group at her college. Willie asked “united” about what? She said, “Well, like united against
fascism.” That struck Willie as
absurd. Fascism has not been a problem
for over fifty years, he told me. It is
one of the least important priorities for anyone today.
Our
conclusion: the girls, like the adults,
have yet to separate from the last century and help the boys create the new
post-industrial society of this century.
They are still focused on fitting in with the existing environment
rather than creating the new one. That
will change. Sometime in this decade the
girls will switch centuries and join the boys in the new century. But for now, don’t expect the girls (in
general) to be creating too many 21st century innovations. Photo: Willie with his grandmother, Mrs. Wm. A. Draves III, learning about family history from a Christmas photo album of ancestors.
(This week:
Willie, our 23 year old son who has taught us about the 21st
century, comes home for winter holidays. Highlights from our talks with him.)
I would say that it makes sense, because right now it's working for women Willie's age, who are making more money than men in the same age bracket:
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN0334472920070803
I think when it stops working - which probably will be soon - young women will switch gears.
Posted by: Suzanne | January 26, 2010 at 02:13 PM