What Being Feisty Begets

Submitted by Boys and Schools Blog

Well, this is one of those things that it is easy to make far too much of (as with most preliminary scientific studies), but it was also too much fun to ignore.  According to recent research from scientists at Auckland University, “feisty” women are more likely to have boys.  This leads to no end of amusing speculation, like:

• How is “feistiness” measured?  Is it distinct from mere crabbiness?
• My oldest 2 children are boys, while my youngest is a girl (and a feisty girl at that).  Does this mean that I’ve grown progressively less feisty over time?  And is this a good thing or a bad thing?  (I have no doubt that my husband has an opinion on the matter, and I devoutly hope that he will be able to restrain himself from posting his thoughts.)
• And, since I’m in the middle of watching The Tudors on DVD, does this get Henry VIII off the hook?  I hope not, because he’s really one of the historical figures that I love to hate.  Not to mention that Katherine of Aragon (and how embarrassing that I almost wrote, “Aragorn,” instead, thereby tripling the nerdiness quotient of this entry) seemed reasonably feisty, as did Anne Boleyn–though I guess the jury is out on whether intrigue and manipulation fall under the “feisty” label.

Disappointingly, it seems that so far these results have only been tested in animals, though the researchers expect to see the same thing in humans.  And, apparently, the measure of feistiness is really just a measure of testosterone level in the womb (which tends to be higher in more aggressive women), which tends to make for a more hospitable environment for the boy-producing sperm.  I’m pretty sure that the actual scientific report had a more technical and accurate way of describing the phenomenon.

Apparently, if you’re not “feisty,” “aggressive,” “confident,” or whichever euphemism we’re using for being more testosterone-y, however, that doesn’t mean that you won’t have a boy.  In addition to the wonderful randomness of nature, there is also the finding that testerone levels in the womb also increase under stress or anxiety.

How much all of this proves to be true in humans remains to be seen of course.  Though I can state with absolute certainty that regardless of what happens in the womb, the arrival of boys tends to cause feistiness and stress, and often simultaneously. 

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