Boys Will Be Boys

Boys Will Be Boys

In This Tedtalk We listen to Niobe Way, a well known professor and leading researcher in adolescent behavior, speak about the phrase “boys will be boys.” Her talk focuses on male relationships throughout childhood and adolescence and how it changes as boys grow older. Initially we see the same types of relationships with boys as we see with girls. Close friendships and an acknowledgment of how important those friendships are to their mental health are the things Way’s research subjects spoke about. As the boys age we see a loss of these friendships and a tendency for older adolescent boys to be isolated, and disappointed by a loss of those close friendships.

The talk further goes into our cultures way of pushing an emotionally stoic and independent personality onto males in our society. Any close male friendships are questioned and the boys in them made to feel uncomfortable because their masculinity and sexuality will be questioned if they maintain them.  Way goes further in her theory that boys are not the way they are because of nature, but instead they go against their natural human nature to connect to become what our society deems as properly masculine. Why do we feel the need to push our young men into an isolating state of being instead of encouraging human connection? Niobe Way hopes to change the “boys will be boys” saying into something more accurate like “boys are human too.”