Is the contrast between boys and men actually profound or just a cultural thing?

Something on my mind. When someone calls a man a boy (in a typical setting anyway), regardless of the relationship between them, it is construed as an insult. When a woman calls one of her female acquaintances or friends "girl", it can be seen as a sign of acknowledgement and acceptance. Is thenotable distinction between a boy and a man in contrast to a girl and a woman really found on a legitimate biological/emotional basis or blown out of proportion like everything else in society?

Depends on the situation really. When someone says "Thats my boy", then could be referring to being their best buddy/friend. If they tell a grown man that "You still nothing but a boy" they could be telling that man to grow up...

boy= virgin

Man= non virgin.

When a man calls another man a boy, he questions his virginity in a spiteful way. Thus a fight ensues.

Conceptual.

I personally believe that boys start becomign men at age 30. I look at everyone 29 or younger as "boys."

I'm 19 btw.

If a parent says to a child "You're still just a boy", it generally refers to the mental and decision-making capabilities being not yet fully developed, as a grown man's is.

boy= virgin

Man= non virgin.

When a man calls another man a boy, he questions his virginity in a spiteful way. Thus a fight ensues.

Hungry_Jello

If a parent says to a child "You're still just a boy", it generally refers to the mental and decision-making capabilities being not yet fully developed, as a grown man's is.topsemag55

[QUOTE="Hungry_Jello"]

boy= virgin

Man= non virgin.

When a man calls another man a boy, he questions his virginity in a spiteful way. Thus a fight ensues.

tocool340

How can calling someone boy be racist?

[QUOTE="tocool340"][QUOTE="Hungry_Jello"]

boy= virgin

Man= non virgin.

When a man calls another man a boy, he questions his virginity in a spiteful way. Thus a fight ensues.

Hungry_Jello

How can calling someone boy be racist?

As people have mentioned, calling a man a boy can sometimes be a way to assert authority over someone else, to bring them down. It was a pretty common practice for white people to do this to black people both during the days of slavery and after during the era of segregation.

Women can get called girls and not be offended because the qualities of femininity are very similar to those of children. Innocent, emotional, cute, fragile, etc. Masculinity, however, is the antithesis of childishness. As a man you're not supposed to be emotional, you're supposed to be strong, self-reliant, and not be naive at all about all the bad stuff life has to offer. Thus, when a man gets called a boy it emasculates him which is taken as an insult. With women, however, there's no emasculation to be done so no insult is taken.

[QUOTE="topsemag55"]If a parent says to a child "You're still just a boy", it generally refers to the mental and decision-making capabilities being not yet fully developed, as a grown man's is.rolfboy

That's probably a side-effect of our male-dominated society. Being a male traditionally means taking on a lot of responsibility, bringing in income, being a protector, being a strong authority figure. While the traditional role of men has been to go out and face the world, the traditional role of women has been to care for the home. The distinction with manhood is one of sort of puffing out your chest I think. As our society continues to evolve and redefine men and women's roles that distinction fades. I think coming into womanhood is increasingly becoming more of a tradition in our society in the way coming into manhood typically has been.

This passage into manhood is not universal throughout all societies. in some Native American societies it was the role of the man to tend to the home while women were hunter/gatherers.Not all societies view manhood in the same manner, either. Whereas our traditional defintion of manhood has typically been one of a strong male with passage into manhood reflecting that sentiment, passage into womanhood has always been viewed as more sexual. A boy becomes a man when his metabolism picks up and his physical features change more, a girl becomes a woman when she first starts to meunstrate. In some societies, the definition of manhood is similar, as the passage into manhood is marked by the young males performing fellatio.

Overall, in a society as diverse and changing as ours I don't think you can nail down the passages into adulthood as easily anymore, and that's not a bad thing. Often now the passage in womanhood is marked by success, sometimes it's marked in the same way male passage used to be marked, in attaining sexual independence. Horizons are expanding in this area for both men and women. The old archetypes are reflections of the ways in which our society evolved, with specific and sometimes discrimantory gender roles. Society is infinitely malleable, though, and as we continue to redefine what manhood and womanhood mean we create new archtypes for future generations. In short, maybe this is noticable to you, but I don't think it will be as noticable to your grandchildren.

It's a cultural thing, to me once a guy starts producing sperm he's a man.

In some societies the word "boy" is used to refer to a member of the servant class.

I'm reminded of one of the lines that the female splicers use in "Bioshock":

"I'll send the boy out to give you a good thrashing!"

[QUOTE="rolfboy"]

[QUOTE="topsemag55"]If a parent says to a child "You're still just a boy", it generally refers to the mental and decision-making capabilities being not yet fully developed, as a grown man's is.theone86

That's probably a side-effect of our male-dominated society. Being a male traditionally means taking on a lot of responsibility, bringing in income, being a protector, being a strong authority figure. While the traditional role of men has been to go out and face the world, the traditional role of women has been to care for the home. The distinction with manhood is one of sort of puffing out your chest I think. As our society continues to evolve and redefine men and women's roles that distinction fades. I think coming into womanhood is increasingly becoming more of a tradition in our society in the way coming into manhood typically has been.

This passage into manhood is not universal throughout all societies. in some Native American societies it was the role of the man to tend to the home while women were hunter/gatherers.Not all societies view manhood in the same manner, either. Whereas our traditional defintion of manhood has typically been one of a strong male with passage into manhood reflecting that sentiment, passage into womanhood has always been viewed as more sexual. A boy becomes a man when his metabolism picks up and his physical features change more, a girl becomes a woman when she first starts to meunstrate. In some societies, the definition of manhood is similar, as the passage into manhood is marked by the young males performing fellatio.

Overall, in a society as diverse and changing as ours I don't think you can nail down the passages into adulthood as easily anymore, and that's not a bad thing. Often now the passage in womanhood is marked by success, sometimes it's marked in the same way male passage used to be marked, in attaining sexual independence. Horizons are expanding in this area for both men and women. The old archetypes are reflections of the ways in which our society evolved, with specific and sometimes discrimantory gender roles. Society is infinitely malleable, though, and as we continue to redefine what manhood and womanhood mean we create new archtypes for future generations. In short, maybe this is noticable to you, but I don't think it will be as noticable to your grandchildren.

Epic answer. I also liked yours gamerguy. Thanks you guys. :)

[QUOTE="tocool340"][QUOTE="Hungry_Jello"]

boy= virgin

Man= non virgin.

When a man calls another man a boy, he questions his virginity in a spiteful way. Thus a fight ensues.

Hungry_Jello

How can calling someone boy be racist?

It can be a derogatory term towards african americans

Well men have bigger
[spoiler] socks [/spoiler]

Depends. Could be a term of endearment or an insult

[QUOTE="Hungry_Jello"]

[QUOTE="tocool340"] Or it could be ment in a racist way too....theone86

How can calling someone boy be racist?

As people have mentioned, calling a man a boy can sometimes be a way to assert authority over someone else, to bring them down. It was a pretty common practice for white people to do this to black people both during the days of slavery and after during the era of segregation.