The view of what maturity means within the gender discussion.

G_E_E_S_E · 2024-02-23T18:53:20+00:00

Its complicated. It’s taken as a fact because it basically is a fact. The prefrontal cortex does actually take longer to develop in males than females. Males will take longer to score typically as adults on psychological testing. There’s consistently strong evidence backing this up. However, I do believe what you say holds some truth. People tend to misinterpret that fact, or extrapolate it to mean more than it does.

Song_of_Pain · 2024-02-23T18:50:45+00:00

We also know that parents, especially mothers, do much more actual parenting of girls than boys - of course it's easier to mature more quickly with more support!

ParanoidAgnostic · 2024-02-24T01:31:16+00:00

It is largely extrapolated from the fact that girls hit and complete puberty earlier. It is true that girls physically mature earlier than boys. However, when used unqualified, "maturity" usually refers to mental maturity, not physical.

Yes, puberty affects the brain but there is more to maturity than that. Your experiences matter. Someone who has never been responsible for their own needs or accountable for their emotional reactions isn't going to be more mature just because they have grown-up brain chemistry.

When adults comment on children's "maturity" they are really just praising traits which make their own lives easier. What teachers and parents want from children is obedience. This is usually what adults are actually talking about when they compliment a child's "maturity." The "mature" children are the ones who sit still, shut up, do their homework and keep their rooms tidy.

I would also argue that "stop maturing earlier" and "mature faster" aren't equivalent. Someone who still behaves like a highschooler well into their 30s stopped maturing earlier than many of their peers.

trowaway123453199 · 2024-02-24T04:06:22+00:00

i personally dont trust a lot of women definition of maturity as some would consider some guy with emotional intelligence mature, while others would consider a guy who plans on having a family or a guy with gray hair and an expensive suit or car, as more mature.

it just seems to me like this concept of a "real man", in the way that if you pay attention to it, a lot of the "real man" behaviors end up benefitting whoever puts the standard first, and those are mostly women. in that same way, depending of what the individual woman considers mature or believes is beneficial to her, and it pushes men to hold whatever standard of maturity a woman or a group of them considers more suitable to their needs.

Skirt_Douglas · 2024-02-23T17:53:16+00:00

I think there is something to this, but it’s not because of biology. I think it appears young women mature faster then young men, because when a woman becomes an adult she immediately has romantic access to, and interest from, men who are older than her. So this means right after turning 18 a woman has access to adult level relationships, where she can learn from the maturity of an older partner. It is rare that an older women takes an interest in a recently turned adult man, and often the women of their same age are with older men. So for men, access to adult relationships (and thus relationship experience) usually gets delayed till an older age, maybe when they are more financially established. Maturity = experience, not biology. If you have no experience with relationships, then you cannot possibly mature in the way that actually experiencing an adult relationship helps you mature. If you start having adult relationships at a younger age, your experience will make you seem like you’ve matured faster.

rizz7604username · 2024-02-24T07:47:50+00:00

My largely philosophical and unscientific take on this is that girls tend to have better social skills than boys early on (probably for evolutionary/survival reasons) and as a result tend to be more “mature” in the traditional sense. However, when it comes to wisdom, decision-making, rational thinking, etc….you have to take people on a case by case basis (ha you probably thought I was going to say that males were better in this regard huh?). I’ve seen plenty of horrible life decisions in adulthood play out across both genders regardless of age of maturity… but I suppose that’s just anecdotal observation.

Appropriate-Use3466 · 2024-02-23T22:56:20+00:00

So are they saying that if women mature before than men, then men continue to mature way after women stopped?

CimZim · 2024-02-23T20:03:36+00:00

I think it's a combination of us hitting puberty earlier than boys, and the fact we are usually expected to care for our family/younger siblings more often than boys are.

Biologically speaking, average age of first menstruation in girls is 8 years old - 12 years old. Age of puberty onset for boys is 10 - 14 years old. This means that, given a boy and girl who are both 15, it's highly likely the girl has been dealing with hormonal, mental, and physical changes longer.

It's pretty well known that, especially in traditional, religious, or conservative families, girl children are expected to clean, cook, provide childcare, and basically help out with the household in ways boy children aren't. Obviously this differs from home to home, and I am sure there are parents who are fair/egalitarian and have both sexes of kids do a share of chores. It's extremely common however, to hear women talk about how our mothers and fathers treated us as "little mothers". I can personally attest to this, as my brothers and sisters actually take me out for Mothers Day, because (as they put it) I raised them more than our parents did.

Title	The view of what maturity means within the gender discussion.
Author	Delicious-Tea-6718
Upvotes	30
Comments	25
Date	February 23, 2024 11:18 AM UTC (2 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/LeftWingMaleAdvocates
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/LeftWingMaleAdvocates/comments/1axy3bw/the_view_of_what_maturity_means_within_the_gender/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/LeftWingMaleAdvocates/the-view-of-what-maturity-means-within-the-gender.1246227 https://theredarchive.com/post/1246227

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