I found Dennis Anderson's article on gay and lesbian development incredibly interesting. The idea that girls and boys come to terms with their homosexuality differently is something I had never considered. It makes complete sense upon further thought. Society views lesbians and gay differently and it would make complete sense that their experiences would differ in a general sense.

I was however, surprised to see that boys tend to identify their homosexuality at an earlier age. While gays and lesbians both experience prejudice I have always thought society is a little more harsh on gays. Perhaps I am way off but I would assume that in the face of more intense hostility gay boys would fight their feelings more and come to terms with it at a later age. The fact that this is not the case is surprising. Maybe I am completely off in thinking gay boys get bullied more than gay girls as well.  Perhaps I am putting too heavy an emphasis on social factors rather than biological ones.

I thought I had posted this a while ago but I must have just clicked save. Well, as they say "better late than never"!

Reading Carol Gilligan's book was much like Peggy McIntosh's "Invisible Backpack" in that it made me look inwards. It highlighted many things that I tend to take for granted as a white male.

The most insteresting part of Gilligans book was the emphasis on the effect that parental relationships affect gender dynamics. It also got me wondering how reversing those traditional parental roles might affect childhood development. Are boy's raised by a single mother traditionally able to empathize more with others? Does a girl raised by a single father tend to define herself in more individualistic terms?