'The Wonder of Girls' is a helpful, positive look in to girls - how they are different from boys and how these differences need to shape how we raise them. The author reviews the neurological and biological differences between girls and boys; relational vs competitive is another way they differ, even in a playground setting. The author, who first wrote a similar book about boys, is the father of two girls. He loves them and is intrigued by them. I highly recommend the book; along with 'The Temperament God Gave You', it has helped me relate to and understand my girls a lot better.
I especially appreciate the statistic that 75 per cent of girls/women are not molested/raped, etc. For those who have been mistreated, there needs to be help. But on the whole, most men/boys are not of wicked intent.
'All men are potential paedophiles,' seems to have entered the collective unconscious. At a meeting last week of women whose husbands are training to be pastors, there was a latent fear factor that children could be abused at any minute. This week B, our five year old with Down Syndrome wandered off and someone said, 'Weren't you afraid? She could have ended up in a paedophile's trunk?' B was on a small seminary campus of 200 people. Yes, statistically it could happen - over 50 per cent of people with Down Syndrome are molested, in fact. So I have more reason to be concerned than most people.
However, my parents raised me not to be afraid of people. I asked my father about this recently - was it a 1970s hippie non-decision? In fact, he and my mother discussed it and knew there were risks in not telling me not to talk to strangers, etc. However, they also knew there were big risks in telling me those things - risks that I would have a fundamental distrust of people - the 6 billion outside my family/friend circle.
When we walk downtown or to the library the girls greet everyone. It may be the only time an elderly person, a single young male, a teenager has someone speak enthusiastically to him, saying with smiles and jumps and twirls, 'Life if worth living.'
Ramblingly,
Beth
One of the hardest things about getting to know my neighbors has been the fact that many of them won't even open the door. I suppose I COULD be a gun-toting maniac, waiting to commit home-invasion. But isn't it more likely that I'm just their neighbor trying to say hello and find out if their plumbing problem got fixed?
Posted by: Philomena | October 11, 2007 at 10:16 AM