Myth About Boys

If you have an assignment to discuss and critique common myths about boys in a research paper, you can get help from Paper Masters and our sociology writers.

How to Organize a Research Project on Myths About Boys

In a research paper on myths about boys, our writers suggest that you should discuss and focus on the theories discussed in your sociology class. A few of the theories you will want to consider using are as follows:

1. Structural-Functional Approach/Theory - Structural-Functional Approach/Theory is an explanatory framework that sees society as a complex system of interrelated parts that work together. Social institutions are the main components of this system.
2. Social Conflict Approach/Feminist Theory - Social Conflict Approach/Feminist Theory is an explanatory framework that see society as divided by inequality and conflict.
   
   Examples of social conflict:
   1. Marxism: problems and class conflict
      
   2. Multiculturalism: problems of racial and ethnic inequality
      
   3. Feminism: problems and gender inequality
3. Symbolic Interaction Approach/Theory - Symbolic Interaction Approach/Theory is an explanatory framework that sees society as the product of individuals interacting with one another. This theory oversees the following:
   1. Learning theory: problems and social environment
   2. Labeling theory: problems and social definitions
4. Political Economy Approach/Structural Theory - Political Economy Approach/Structural Theory is an explanatory framework emphasizing the impact of political and economic institutions on the physical form and social action.

Theories About Boys

According to William Pollack's Real Boys, there are major obstacles and challenges inherent to boyhood, many of which can be made easier through putting a halt to the perpetuation of social myths. These myths include those that dictate how boys should think, feel, and act, and what they should want for their futures.

Why is context and behavior important to individual behaviors? Context is important to individual behaviors because it dictates so much about what is or isn't appropriate in any given situation, and also allows others to understand better why a certain behavior might be engaged in.

For example, Pollack describes on page 46 the phenomenon of numbing, in which a boy might become so hardened to life's painful situations that he is "literally anesthetized" against the pain he has to cope with. When this type of a behavior occurs in the context of an absent father, recent divorce, or abandonment, it is much easier to see why the child chooses to not to feel pain rather than to expose himself to the immense flood of potentially overwhelming emotion that would otherwise result.

What is parental gate keeping? How do parents act for optimal results? Pitfalls? Pollack describes how "some mothers unconsciously play the role of gatekeeper, preventing a father from getting involved in parenting" (p. 104). This means that mothers and fathers tend to get trapped in certain, predictable roles in terms of parenting, and that this can set up a harmful dynamic for the child.

According to Pollack, "the best parenting of sons will be achieved when mothers and fathers transcend gender straitjackets in actions as well as words" (p. 104). By this, the author means that parents will not feel the need to adhere to any scripted or prescribed stereotype-driven patterns of parenting their sons.

The pitfalls of gatekeeping mothers are that they may make it difficult for the fathers "to stay closely involved in nurturing their sons" (p. 125). By taking such an all-consuming role in her son's life, the gatekeeping mother may prevent the father from participating to the degree he would prefer.