Anecdotally, I suspect this pattern extends all the way back to childhood. The tendency I've seen, repeatedly, is that misbehavior and horseplay is tolerated in

Anecdotally, I suspect this pattern extends all the way back to childhood. The tendency I've seen, repeatedly, is that misbehavior and horseplay is tolerated in boys, or even encouraged, whereas retribution is swift when little girls step out of line. I've found this tendency in myself, sadly. When my girls misbehave, take stupid risks, boss other kids around, tear around the house and cause general mayhem, I have to consciously skew my responses back to the mean. Not that I think the world would be a better place if we raised everyone up as misbehaving man-children, but at least I want to level the playing field somewhat for my own girls.