"The Alpha Effect"

In reading all of these different articles, the one that most appealed to me was "The Alpha Effect" because it had me giggling and very interested at the same time. Actually, I had hoped that more had been written on the topic at hand: how girls are influenced by boys and vice versa. Having a brother myself, I understand the intended purpose of girls being influenced by certain qualities that boys seem to carry. It has kept me constantly competing every day for the past sixteen to seventeen years. The article written by Evan Thomas was meant for boys as much as it was girls and sparks interests in habits and qualities of both genders. At a certain point, he goes more specifically into the psychology of a girls mind and that takes over the rest of the article. There was appeal to authority in regards to research. The research was more open than anything clinical; it was more based off of psychologists and teachers at top schools taking notice and keeping interest in how students are adapting each others habits, both good and bad. While he compares girls and boys that carry such habits as being more aggressive and asserting individuality, which are considered good, strong traits; there is a shown cause for concern that it is being applied a little too generally in terms of not having relationships. Initially girls were allowed to go to schools that were only attended by boys at one time in a move made to introduce "softer" habits to the boys. There was hope that the boys would learn from the girls and take on what they said were softer and kinder qualities. Needless to say it went the other way and us girls are taking on the strong characteristics that guys have! The conclusion of all this is that both genders have progressed; just the girls have progressed a little more. It seems that the author, from seeing this himself, feels that the girls need to assert themselves and "insist" more to the boys about their change of habits so that one gender does not outweigh the other.