“Because then I cannot see you and you will fall down and cry and I will not hear you.”

“How do you know I’ll fall?” whined the girl.

I always wanted a car and thought that having one would make my life easier. I still remember the day I bought the car - my car! - and drove it home. It was the happiest day of my life... and then everything went wrong.

First of all, I got a ticket for speeding. I was so excited about driving my new car that I didn’t realize how fast I was going. Later, when I got home, there was nowhere to park on the street. I looked for parking for almost thirty minutes. Finally, I found a place – six blocks from my house! The next morning, I decided to drive to school. The traffic was terrible and I was fifteen minutes late for class. All this happened in the first twenty-four hours of owning a car!

Both Joy and Tommy are growing up in the culture of the United States. They are learning what it means to be a girl and a boy in this culture. Their sex at birth, female or male, is now becoming a gender – a way of thinking, speaking, and acting that is considered feminine or masculine. Each culture has its own way of defining gender, and very early in life gender becomes a basic part of a person’s identity.

In the United States and Canada, boys and girls usually play in the same sex groups. Boys play in large groups in which every boy knows his place.

Some are leaders; others are followers. Many boys like to get attention by boasting, or talking how well they can do things.

Girls, on the other hand, usually play in smaller groups. They may be interested in playing fairly and taking turns. For example, when jumping rope, the rope-holders always take their turn jumping.