The difference between girls and guys is not a physical difference. Instead, it has more to do with the characteristics and a certain mind set that each gender carries. In my research, this mind set is connected a lot with the physical aspects of males and the physical aspects of females.
To decipher the real difference between guys and girls, I would have to research and observe more than just the students at St. Johns. However, I wanted to get an idea of what goes on in the heads of my peers here at school. Before I started my research, I had the idea that girls care more about things like looks and weight. This is my first research question I want to answer. My second question asks who is more competitive with their peers when it comes time to the subject of appearance. To help answer my questions, I conducted a survey that was given to 5 females and 5 males. We all here rumors as to why girls care more about looks and why girls are more competitive than guys when it comes to the subject of appearance. In spite of what we may assume, do you think there is really another answer to these questions? This is exactly what I set out to find.
On the question of why do girls care more about things like looks and weight, I discovered in the surveys that guys may care just as much as girls, but they don’t openly admit it as well or as much. For one thing, it isn’t everyday that you read in the tabloids that Brad Pitt has lost a lot of weight or has gotten fat, but on the front cover, you may discover how his wife Angelina is anorexic thin or has gained 35 pounds. In any case, on the survey, when asked if they heavily care about their appearance, all the girls said it depends on where they are going and who will be there. One girl even mentioned she is ok with being late to class as long as she is “properly” dressed and looking good. The guys, on the other hand, were not so concerned. One said he does care about his appearance, but the others said no, it doesn’t matter to me. Why don’t they feel the need to dress to impress?
On the subject of weight, I wanted to see just how these teenagers were dealing with their weight. I wanted to see how many of them ate healthy, or thought they were eating healthy to maintain a certain look. Only one of the girls said she ate healthy, and all the others did no consider themselves healthy eaters. When I read the girls portion of this survey, I was surprised, until I turned to the guy’s surveys. Three out of five of the guys considered themselves healthy eaters, yet when they answered the next question, do you indulge at dinner time, most girls said yes, while a few said they watched portion sizes. It was all of the guys who said yes. Guys said they ate healthy, yet they said they indulged. The girls who indulge said no, I know that’s not healthy…why do guys think it’s healthy to eat that way, but girls do not?
This struck me as funny. I would also like to mention that one of the girls put on her survey that she is concerned with portion size because she is afraid of how people will judge her based on how much she eats. However, she didn’t fail to mention that other people eat more than her. In other words, as long as people eat more than her, she has nothing to worry about. This proves one of my points that girls care more about things like appearance, even when on the subject of food.
One last point I would like to make is about weight. This seems to always be a touchy subject when girls talk about it, but less when guys do. Four out of five of the girls said they would like to weigh less than they do now. One was even concerned that she was getting extremely heavy due to stress. A girl who took the survey emphasized my point and wrote that not many girls want to be gain more weight these days. It’s all about losing weight. Before I have the survey out, I thought I would read that the guys wanted to gain more weight because this is what I have observed in the past. However, only one said he would like to gain about 20 pounds and the others didn’t worry about their weight…so they say.
So the big question still stands: why do girls care more about things like looks and weight? I was not surprised to read the answer on all of these surveys. Every survey mentioned that girls stress more because of what’s in the media. They see things in magazines and on TV that say you have to be skinny. In today’s society, there is a certain “ideal” look and if you don’t have it, then you won’t be the “it” girl. I read in one survey that “Girls definitely stress more because there is a greater pressure on them from society.” Another survey mentioned that “Women are expected to live up to expectations that are unattainable and therefore are more concerned with unachievable goals.” These are pretty powerful statements, and surprisingly, they were quotes from two boys.
Magazines might mention that a female celebrity has gained weight or even that a celebrity has lost too much weight and the critics are mocking her for it. Either way, this is saying that looks matter. You have to look good to the public eye. The pressure is on. When people read this, they assume it’s about them as well, and that the only way to look good is to be perfect. But what is perfect? That is a whole other subject.
Are girls and guys more competitive when it comes time to the subject of appearance? I believe they are both equally competitive in their own ways. Boys may care about different things, but they still care. Guys approach the subject one way and girls go about it another way. That could all be a part of life. I discovered however, perhaps why girls care more about being skinny and why guys care more about being “big.” Most people said the media and I think they may be true. Both girls and guys on this survey said girls worry about those things more, but based on their answers, I think they almost care as much as the girls. A few guys mentioned they don’t talk about other guys weights and appearances but they talk about girls—maybe that’s one reason why girls feel the way they do. It’s weird how that works out. Girls talk about girls and guys talk about girls. As I mentioned before, the competition between same the sex is almost as equal, based on my survey. However, guys are quieter about it. You can tell from their one word answers on the survey compared to the long answers on the girl’s surveys. One girl even mentioned that if guys did openly admit it, they would probably be made fun of. They may not be honest about it, but they probably go through the same thing. They always turned it around to talk about the girls, never themselves. “People stress because they are insecure, and girls stress because guys talk about them. It’s true, we talk about girls appearances.” This is one of the answers I received on the survey.
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