Introduction<br >JUST THE OTHER DAY I saw a classic conflict outside<br >my office window. The church where I work as a coun-<br >selor has an elementary school， and that particular day<br >was Field Day filled， as tradition would have it， with<br >fun games like the three-legged race， the gunnysack race，<br >the egg toss， and more. The afternoon finale was the ulti-<br >mate in gender-clash: boys versus girls tug-o-war.<br > I watched as the two sexes squared off for battle. The<br >girls giggled nervously. They had little to lose， it seemed.<br >The boys， on the other hand， clenched their teeth，<br > chewed their tongues， and made a huge show of digging<br > their hightop tennis shoes into the ground for added<br > leverage. They had life at stake.<br > The whistle blew， the rope stiffened， the boys turned<br > crimson， the girls giggled...then panic broke out on the<br > boys end. The girls were inching them closer and closer<br > to defeat.<br > Tempers rose. Accusations flew. "Pull harder， ToddV<br > "I am! Why don t you? I am!" But nothing helped.<br > Suddenly， with a heave， the gigglers sent the boys<br > sprawling.<br > Shrill， unison voices called out in that sing-song pat-<br > tern we all learn early in life: "You boys are weaklings!<br > You boys are weaklings!"<br > Up jumped the boys from the ground， quickly engag-<br > ing themselves in all sorts of manly behaviors such as<br >