Boys Will Be Boys Analysis

1991 Pulitzer Prize winner, Natalie Angier, is famous for her scientific topics, many of which have been published in many popular magazines and newspapers. One of her writings, Intolerance of Boyish Behavior appeared in the New York Times in 1994. Angier’s main topic is that today’s young males are subjected to more intolerance, studies prove that mental disabilities are seen more in males, and these speculations occur often. Many people use the “tautology ‘boys will be boys’” (Angier 389) to describe how young boys typically act. Angier describes young boys perfectly. “Boys will be very noisy and obnoxious. Boys will tear around the house and break heirlooms. They will transform any object longer than it is wide into a laser weapon with eight settings from stun to vaporize. They will swagger and brag and fib and not do their homework and leave their dirty underwear on the bathroom

Maybe he has a conduct disorder. Is he fidgety, impulsive, disruptive, and easily bored? Perhaps he is suffering from attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, the disease of the hour and the most frequently diagnosed behavioral disorder of childhood. Does he prefer computer games and goofing off to homework? He might have dyslexia or another learning disorder” (Angier 389). These are only a few of the many conclusions that are “jumped to” in the event a male student begins to misbehave.

One of the main reason for doctors jumping to conclusions is that research proves mental illnesses are more common in males than females. Angier claims that, “Attention-deficit disorder, said to afflict 5 percent of all children, is thought to be about three to four times more prevalent in boys than girls; and boys practically have the patent on conduct disorders” (Angier 390). My younger cousin Ryan is one of the many who were believed to have some form of mental