Why do boys seem to have more choices than girls?

I have a daughter and I’ve been thinking a lot about a study I recently read that stated there is a breaking point with young girls.  It said that at the age of 5, boys and girls tend to start associating the concept of “brilliance.” They learn about someone who is really smart, and associate that with their own gender.

That concept changes by the age of 6 and girls begin to associate brilliance with boys. Girls around 6-7 become much more likely to endorse boys as brilliant.

Related: We finally had to kill our cat

The second part of the study asked children to look through pictures and pick out who they thought would do well in school. Girls picked out girls as doing well in school but they didn’t connect it to being brilliant.

Later I read a piece about a woman I admired when I was young, Mary Tyler Moore. The piece says that the character on the show was a bad feminist, because at one point she found out that she was being paid less for doing the same work as a man but she was emotional about it. The piece said she was an icon however because her character came out for the birth control pill on the show; she let America know that a single woman could want to have sex.

What about now? How are women seen in pop culture? They play physical super heroes who can beat up terrorists. But they are really pretty. Even women who are portrayed as brilliant in movies have to be “hot.”

Where do children focus their attention?

Boys have a wider range of heroes. Boys don’t stand in check-out stands and see glossy, photoshopped faces emphasizing sexuality. Males have a much broader range. Hey Hollywood, grow up!

As always, please listen to the full audio clip for complete context.