«Boys are childish»

Inanna: Do I sometimes wish I was a boy? Oh yes! Boys sometimes have it really easier and aren't confronted with prejudices so often. I'm the only woman in my company and the first female apprentice. When I once came to vocational school in a jumper, I was stared at like an alien. There are three girls and eleven boys in my class. Girls might not even think about learning a trade because there are almost no female role models. My mum's former boyfriend is a carpenter. When he remodelled his house himself a good two years ago, I thought it was so cool that I really wanted to be able to do it too. So my career aspirations were set.

Lilli: In my class, the gender ratio is fifty-fifty. I wouldn't mind more boys, I've always got on better with them. As a small child, I would have liked to fight sometimes, but I was always afraid for my long hair!
Inanna: I'm actually really girly, I like to style and do my make-up. I'm sure the boys in my professional and school environment are often intimidated by me. I understand that. Fortunately, my boyfriend doesn't. I met him on a school trip and he's in the same class as me. I think boys my age are sometimes really childish.
Lilli: I think they're under more pressure than we are. The cult of the body is enormous among the boys. I also thought I had to conform to a certain image and be super slim. But I realised that my friends didn't want that at all.

Lilli: I go to a business school. When I started, I wanted to become a wedding planner with my own company. Now I'd rather study acting and singing, but that's also possible with a business baccalaureate. I've been acting since I was little and music has always been my favourite subject. I have a rather difficult relationship with maths. Sometimes I was really bad at maths, other times I was top of my class.
Inanna: I've always hated maths. In my apprenticeship, it's now a necessary evil - I just have to get through it. I'm fascinated by the craftsmanship, not the numbers. However, I was always good at languages. There are also a few boys at our school who are good at languages. I have to say that I was surprised at how well it works in a class with so many boys, I feel very comfortable.

Inanna: When you have as many boys around you as I do, the pressure isn't as great. But when your body changes and you suddenly have fat in places you never thought you would, it's really unsettling.
Lilli: Boys sometimes get extremely nasty about it. They make stupid jokes and don't realise what they're doing to you.

Inanna: That's right. Girls think much, much more about everything. They are much more empathetic.
Lilli: Yes, I think the emotional world is the biggest difference between us. We girls think too complicatedly and interpret too many things into the boys.

Girls think much, much more about everything.

Inanna: Boys are better at switching off their heads than we are. I think that's something we're brought up with.
Lilli: You think so? And what about hormones?
Inanna: They might play a role. Nevertheless, it could be that a boy who grows up with a lot of female influence is emotionally different.
Lilli: There's something about that. Before they start kindergarten, boys are much more empathetic. The differences are probably both biological and inherited.

Read more about gender stereotypes:

• Typical boy, typical girl? What's the truth about gender myths?
• I say: «If you really hurt yourself, you can cry even as a boy»