This comment was by Christine Walker on the post “I Don’t Know What It Feels Like to Be a Man, So Show Me“.
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This is a classic nature vs nurture question, isn’t it? How much of the gender differences are the result of biology and how much are the result of social structures that give men fewer opportunities to learn these valuable social support skills?
I’m sure some of both, but in my experience, men can be every bit as empathetic and supportive as women, when they make the effort to learn how. So whether these are skills that come naturally or not doesn’t matter as much as the fact that they can be learned.
An important question is “how do we make learning the social support skills appealing for men?” My teenage sons get a lot more positive reinforcement from their peers when they come up with a witty, stinging insult than they do for giving someone a big hug, a meaningful compliment, or listening intently while they cry.
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Photo: jamorcillov / flickr
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