Blame it on the testosterone ...

Have you ever wondered why your boys show little interest in homework? We literally have to take their privileges away to get them to set the priority correct. It takes a lot to get them interested in something as boring as studying for tests; in fact some high school teachers reported that they literally have to 'shock' them to get them interested, according to "The Male Brain," book by Louann Brizendine, M.D. 

--courtesy of elle.com

About a month ago or so, my teenage girl, Pepper, came home from school and reported to me that she was so shocked to see the girls in her school are wearing shorts that are literally too short. I was jokingly saying, "Ha, some days you would be wearing one." One day, I was there early to pick her up from school. Boy! I was shocked! Literally, my jaw dropped. I couldn't believe what I saw. Exactly what Pepper had mentioned, the girls were wearing shorts that were way too short. I was telling my friend that "No wonder those teenage boys can't concentrate!" I then told Pepper, "You are right about the short. Please don't ever wear one. I think your mom will have heart attack." She was laughing. Researchers also found that boys/men have two and a half times the brains space devoted to interest on opposite genders. Now you know why if you found most men and/or boys are staring at the "hot babe." 

Sometimes you would see or even experienced it yourselves where boys/men tend to get aggressive when they are being challenged, for instance, someone decided to cut in front of them while driving. Somehow this triggered the message that they were being challenged. Well, don't blame them, but blame it on the testosterone!

In fact, based on Dr. Brizendine's  book, The Male Brain, "researchers have found that high testosterone men have a need to dominate others, and so they react more dramatically to being challenged. And this happens in the animal kingdom too. Studies in primates show that dominant males whose status is consistently challenged maintain higher levels of testosterone and more aggressive than subordinate males. The higher the testosterone, the more recharged and battle ready the male brain feels. That doesn’t help according to Dr. Brizendine, since they also have larger brain center for muscular action and aggression. Their brain circuits for mate protection and territorial defense are hormonally primed for action starting at puberty. "

How many times us, women, found ourselves saying to our man that "You are emotionless. You don't understand how I feel. “In fact, based on studies, men do understand. They share brief emotion as we do, but they have the tendency to use their analytical approach to seek solutions rather continue to empathize us.  That doesn’t mean that they don't care. Solving our problems is their way of showing their love and care.

They also don't understand why we like to talk and text so much or why we need to share every minute details. They were more likely to send concise, to the point, messages about something "important." When we found ourselves repeating same thing, they would literally tune out since to them we are nothing but 'white noise.'

Understanding underlying factors can help us face many challenges in life. "The Male Brain," by Louann Brizendine, M.D. is definitely an interesting book to read, if you want to know more about how male’s brain works. Let’s pause once in a while in our journey to understand why things are the way they are. Maybe we will find solution and ready for our next challenge in life.

Until next stop,
Journey of Life