Research suggests that raising girls is more stressful than boys
"Boys and girls must be shown the same values, empathy, respect, confidence, compassion, independence." -Amanda Cassidy
As a parent, raising a child comes with a host of challenges, that's over and above thinking about the gender of that child.
If you are a parent to just one child, you don't question whether it is easier or less stressful to parent one gender over the other, mainly because you're navigating parenthood with all its ups and downs.
A research study by the University of California, Berkeley, revealed that raising girls may be more stressful for mothers than raising boys.
"Researchers measured cortisol—the body’s primary stress hormone—and discovered that levels were significantly higher in women caring for girls.
The findings suggest that daughters often spark more emotionally intense interactions, not because they’re harder to parent, but due to the distinct ways in which the mother-daughter relationship functions," according to an Inside History Instagram post.
This is not to say that girls are more difficult to raise. The research indicates that the stress of parenting can rest on how deeply emotional and complex it can be to connect and engage with daughters compared to sons.
It's worth noting that the world that is moving away from the once 'all-hailing' gender identification, where kids prefer gender neutrality.
"Experts agree that the best parenting methods combine nature and nurture, raising them in an equally nurturing environment. Boys and girls need to be shown the same values, empathy, respect, confidence, compassion, and independence," according to Image.
Placing precedence on things such as gender might not be a holistic approach for parenting, but it does offer parents of both genders a guideline on how to ensure they are combining nurture and nature.
Amanda Cassidy from Image wrote: "Tailoring how we treat our children has indisputably caused problems in the past, but perhaps with a more informed technique, we can push past the stereotypes that have been allowed to fester."
She went on to say that parenting her two girls and boy differently isn't based entirely on gender but on their unique personalities.
Best not to fret then about the amount of stress your daughters are going to give you, because parenting as a whole can be stressful regardless of your child's gender.
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Image Courtesy of iStock