«If you really hurt yourself, you can cry even as a boy»

Matti, 8, is in first grade and lives with his parents and his brother Lenny, 10, in Chur GR. He believes thatgirls can concentrate better and are calmer than boys. On the other hand, girls are often late for lessons because they talk so much.

"Oh no, I certainly don't want to be a girl. Boys do cooler things, are cheekier and funnier. Some girls are chicks and start screaming as soon as they fall in the snow because they don't want to get wet and dirty. The boys are bigger and stronger than the girls. At school, we always finish our homework faster. We don't have any grades yet, but we get smileys for our performance.
The boys don't get more smileys than the girls. But I always get lots. My favourite subjects are gymnastics, religion and maths. I don't like singing that much. And I find reading more difficult than maths. I'm better with numbers than letters. But maybe that will change. In class, the girls stretch more often. I think it's tedious for us boys to stretch out for so long and wait for our turn. We prefer to say what we know straight away.

8-year-old Matti is sometimes mistaken for a girl because of his long hair. But that doesn't bother him. He told us when boys are also allowed to cry and why girls are more likely to stretch out in class. Picture: Salvatore Vinci / 13 Photo

Because I have long hair, people sometimes think I'm a girl. That doesn't bother me. Other boys say I look like a girl to annoy me, but I don't care. That's why I don't cut my hair. I had it short once and I think it looked daft.
We also sometimes play rounders or sitting ball with the girls, but they always start crying when they fall over. Boys can take it better. But if you really hurt yourself, you can cry as a boy too. Even if something makes you sad, for example if someone dies or you have a fight, you're allowed to shed tears. You won't be laughed at.

Boys say I look like a girl to tease me, but I don't care.

I play floorball and last year we had a girl in our team. Girls can also shoot well, but not dribble so well. Boys are faster, but not better at gymnastics. But football is for boys. They get fouled and the girls get offended and stop playing. That's why we don't like playing with them so much.
I do think that girls are sometimes favoured at school, even though they're no better. Perhaps the teachers sometimes prefer them because they are quieter. I don't always find it easy to concentrate. For example, it sometimes happens that I'm still studying a letter in German class and then don't really realise what we have to do.
The girls are often late because they always talk so much. I don't know what they always have to talk about. It's easier to be a boy!"

Read more about gender stereotypes:

  • Typical boy, typical girl? What's the truth about gender myths?
  • We say: «Boys are childish»