A girl takes too much time to love,

And a few seconds to hate,

But a boy takes a few seconds to love,

And too much time to hate.

— Shakespeare

YOU can interpret that quote in different ways but one thing is true, boys and girls are distinctly different, even though they may appear to take parallel paths in life.

They say that parallel lines never meet, converge, and that is indeed true as far as scientific reality goes. A prime example is that of railway lines that traverse countries for thousands of miles, side by side, yet do not meet.

Yet boys and girls live parallel lives in the same environment but end up meeting constantly, or at least at one point or the other. That’s why I titled today’s piece ‘Non-parallel paths’, for if they truly lived parallel lives they would never meet, according to science.

Two infants are born — a bouncing baby boy and a sweet little girl. Both have their lives cut out for them; both face the same challenges, trials and tribulations; both have many hurdles to overcome to survive.

But even from that early stage, labels are affixed to both genders such as the old English ditty, “What are little girls made of? Sugar and spice and all that’s nice. But what are little boys made of? Snips and snails and puppy dogs’ tails.” Some labels last forever.

But all that is not necessarily true for even though they may both traverse the same path they do so at different speeds, with the girls somehow moving at a quicker pace — that’s why they say girls mature faster than boys — and therein lies the conundrum when they do happen to meet.

Non-parallel paths, that’s the road we’re going down today, which may just be the path less travelled. Let’s see if that’s really true, right after we see what these readers had to say about the ‘Witholding sex tax’.

Hi Tony,

You are so right. The withholding sex tax can only be applied if there is little supply and great demand. She has it to distribute sparingly, and she knows his wants and needs are like a thirsty man in the desert. Men who are well off financially, whose partners are homemakers, are not subject to the levy. She depends on the man for just about everything, and if she decides to apply the tax he can withhold things like money for personal shopping, the car, the help, going out to various events, etc. I just wonder who can hold out longer. My money is on the woman.

Michael

Teerob,

No matter how you try to spin it, sugar coat it, butter it up, or look at it through rose-tinted glasses, it boils down to the same thing: Women use sex as leverage, as they think that it’s power in their hands. Did I say hands? The point is, as long as men continue to succumb to the wicked and cruel act that women continue to hold over the heads of men, they will succeed. Men should hold out too.

Rupert

Let’s face it: Boys and girls grow up differently, even though they may grow up in the same environment. There are some people who may think otherwise, but the facts remain. They may jump out of the starting blocks at the same time, but by the time they sprint down the track they are at different points.

The girls definitely have a head start and mature quicker than the boys — some may even say the boys never, ever catch up. Even in sports this is apparent. Is this why at Boys’ and Girls’ Champs there is Class 4 category for girls (under 13 years) but none for boys? The boys start at Class 3 (14 years). Is it thought that boys of Class 4 age are too immature?

Then girls reach puberty first, with some even having their cycles as early as age 12, some even earlier. At that age boys are clueless, with their gonads not yet descended to their scrotal sac as they run up and down doing boyish things.

That’s why in high school girls are usually attracted to the older boys, for a boy of 15 or 16 really has nothing meaningful to say to a girl of the same age. Perhaps that’s why many women prefer men who are older than them, even when they grow older.

Of course, as in all things, there are exceptions, but a girl of 15 is usually not attracted to a boy of her age but will be drawn to an older boy, maybe in sixth form, or even a young man already out of school.

Just an aside, but Japan just raised the age of sexual consent from 13 to 16 years. Yes, you read that right, the age of consent for sex in Japan was 13 years old for over a century, from 1907 to be exact.

It’s fortunate that Japan is so far away, or some Jamaican men would be hopping on a flight to the Land of the Rising Sun. But I digress, sayonara.

So, as the girls mature faster than the boys so does their sexual curiosity and I daresay involvement, with many falling prey to desire, again, usually from older boys or even big, old, gray-back men.

Some get caught, and end up with babies who they can scarcely take care of. Meanwhile, the boys of that age are still running up and down, bussing a sweat, kicking the can down the street — at least they used to back in the day. I guess nowadays they’re glued to their various Internet devices.

But when those boys hit the puberty phase that the girls have already gone through they now discover their own bodies, feel their power, and are eager to experience the joys of sexuality.

Well it does sound dramatic, but even if they don’t actually indulge physically, their raging hormones take centre stage and their thoughts are consumed by pleasures of the flesh. Scientists say that a boy at the stage of puberty thinks about sex more than 80 per cent of the time.

Some get involved with younger girls, who I mentioned earlier, while others will look beyond their years and cohabit with older women. Yes, it does happen, when a boy is on the cusp of becoming a man he goes where his divining rod leads him.

But here’s the irony: Research suggests that women reach their sexual peak in their 30s, but men in their late teens. So as far as nature goes, a woman of 30 should really hook up with a schoolboy of 17. I guess the cougars are only acting on the primal forces of nature.

Then there’s the question if it’s better for children to be schooled separately or to have boys and girls in the same classroom. Are co-ed schools better for boys and girls, or are the schools that separate them better?

Maybe boys who attend co-ed schools may mature a little faster because they’re exposed to and surrounded by feminine influences. But maybe too much early exposure to the opposite sex may have negative connotations for both. It’s like putting “butter inna puss mouth” — him going to lick it. Is there more sexual interaction between boys and girls in co-ed schools?

I have seen some videos circulating online of boys and girls indulging in sex right there in the classroom in broad daylight. What was even more disconcerting was that other students weren’t even looking on but were busy doing their own stuff, such as talking to each other or playing video games.

The fact that girls mature faster than boys and learn at a different rate may impact negatively on boys, so who knows if that impacts the boys in co-ed schools? The experts can weigh in here.

I’m no expert on the matter but I went to an all-boys school — perhaps the greatest of all time, Kingston College (KC) — and I don’t think I would have traded my experience there for anywhere else.

While at high school, when we reached the age of puberty and started to view girls differently it was always a thrill to interact with girls from other schools. There was no ‘used to’ attitude by the boys as we always looked forward to the mingling of the genders.

I’m sure some may argue differently but, having gone to an all-boys school and given the person I turned out to be regarding loving the opposite sex, I would never change my experiences one iota.

But then again KC was always a ‘chick magnet’, still is, as sometimes people even think it’s a co-ed school because of the numerous girls who adorn themselves in KC purple uniforms during sporting events.

The point is, though, boys and girls do grow up differently and perhaps seem to take parallel paths, but despite what the science may suggest — that parallel lines do not meet — in this instance they do converge, but only at different times.

More time.

seido1yard@gmail.com

Footnote: One non-parallel path in the lives of children is the difference in how mothers treat their sons. It’s pretty clear that some mothers contribute to the weakness that many boys display. When does it go too far? A mother recently told me that her grown son (he’s in his 20s) and his girlfriend had a dispute, which is quite normal in relationships. Well, this mother would have none of it and marched down to the young lady’s house for a confrontation. When I pointed out how wrong that was, she defended her actions. Can you imagine my dismay and shame if my mother was to fight my romantic battles for me when I was in my 20s? Can you fathom my shame if my mother drove to my high school to fight for me? And yet, some see nothing wrong with that.