Gender roles

I'm the sort of person who believes that while men and women are equal, it's important to acknowledge and celebrate our differences. To this end I'm trying to figure out what exactly makes a man more than a boy. Take a moment with me and think about that.

What physical traits sets men apart from boys?
What attitudes change, evolve, or are acquired?
What behaviors are different?
What responsibilities does a man have that a boy can't/shouldn't have?

Ok, now, send me a comment or an email. I really do want to know your thoughts.

Here are a few interesting quotes a friend shared with me yesterday as we discussed this:

Attitude by Charles Swindoll [wikipedia.org]
The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.
Attitude, to me, is more important than facts.

It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill. It will make or break a company ... a church ... a home.

The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past. We cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable.

The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude ... I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me, and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you ... we are in charge of our Attitudes.

If by Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream--and not make dreams your master,
If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings--nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son!

--Rudyard Kipling

And finally, a talk called Let Us Be Men by Elder D. Todd Christofferson (LDS general authority. General Conference Oct 2006, Priesthood session)

Good men sometimes make mistakes. A man of integrity will honestly face and
correct his mistakes, and that is an example we can respect. Sometimes men try
but fail. Not all worthy objectives are realized despite one's honest and best
efforts. True manhood is not always measured by the fruits of one's labors but
by the labors themselves—by one's striving.

More thoughts as they develop.