According to feminists, this is a very common and a damning expression that dismisses young/adolescent males' bad behaviour. Yet in my 42 years I don't recall ever hearing it. Are we being massively gaslit here?

Being an average looking guy from a background of modest means, I've never not been held accountable for anything I've done. I don't get let off with a warning. That fine, that consequence, whatever it be, is coming my way. I suspect this might be the case for most males unless they're particularly good looking and charming, or come from a wealthy and influential family.

Whereas women I know can quite confidently go out knowing that they'll get a free pass, whether its not paying for a train fare, a speeding ticket, unpaid road tax, petty crime etc can all be waived by them batting their eyelashes and looking up with sorrowful doe eyes. If it's particularly bad they'll squeeze out a tear.

There's a total lack of consequences that just feeds into an already immense sense of entitlement. Watch some crime/arrest videos on YouTube. They'll go through all the tricks and be absolutely shocked when they are finally held accountable for something more significant!

So I ask, is 'Boys will be boys' just a massive projection based on the exception, not the rule?