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[quote=Anonymous]I think both boys and girls can be highly competitive but that often girls compete over subjective things (who is better friends with whom, who is prettiest, who is the best at a somewhat complex and somewhat subjective skill like gymnastics or dance). Boys often compete over very black and white things like who is the fastest runner or biker, who is tallest, who has the best video games or gets the most time to play them.

I think the subjectivity of female competition often results in a lot of passive aggressive jockeying for position, and often shockingly mature "negging" or "mean girl" behavior even at a young age. I have seen 5 year olds debate "who Layla likes the most," already competing over access to the popular girl. I've seen 7 year olds discuss who has "the best body" (yes, really, it's deeply depressing). I've also seen girls compete over who is most fashionable (a totally subjective measure whose metrics can easily be manipulated or changed depending on your social power in the group). Another one: who has the best handwriting.

It think all of this just makes it harder to navigate social hierarchies for girls. In the end, the girls who tend to dominate social groups in elementary school seem to be (1) the ones from the wealthiest families, (2) the ones with older sisters, I think because it gives them access to certain cultural currency, and (3) the ones who are cutest and thus tend to be treated better by and get more attention from adults.[/quote]

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