Deborah Tannen’s book, The Argument Culture is full of many arguments, some more intriguing then others. In this book, she tackles everything from politics to the Internet, and everything in between. I was especially taken by the gender issues that she addressed. Such issues were approached in nearly every chapter, it did not seem to matter what the topic was; she always managed to bring the battle of the sexes into it somehow.
             One chapter was dedicated strictly to this very topic: Chapter 6, entitled “Boys Will Be Boys: Gender and Opposition”, was among my favorite parts of the book. She really tackles the differences between boys and girls, which start at a very young age. I was awe-struck by the examples she uses of very small children who already are playing the gender specific roles which society has assigned to them. Children learn very quickly what is expected from them and how they are supposed to act. Very young boys know that they should not play with dolls just as little girls do not want to play with trucks. The example about the blocks was especially intriguing, the way that boys just want to destroy and wreak havoc on each others ‘creations’, and girls keep the blocks so neat and orderly says a lot about our society. However, I am not so sure that this is always true. Boys are not always the rough, tough ones, while girls are prim and proper.
             Growing up, my mother babysat my male cousin while his mother was at work. Being two years younger then I and four years younger then my sister, he was very impressionable. He did play Barbie’s with us, and we played G.I Joes with him. As a result, Jim is not gay, he is just a well-rounded person, however, he learned at that young age to become extremely dependent on my sister and I. Jim is an only child, therefore, Beth and I were all he ever knew as siblings, as Jane and I grew apart, Jim and I grew closer. As children
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