User: Del

Commando, you’re right when you talk about a strength gap, but it only really comes into play after about age 14, and it is not unbridgeable. Statistically, boys and girls overlap a lot up through age 12 but by 13 the boys start pulling ahead on average. My tomboy neighbor was easily the equal of any boy in her class through elementary school. A big part of her identity was being the girl who could overpower or outfight boys. It was kind of funny, though, that even when she could fight like a boy, she threw and caught like a girl.

I’d say it wasn’t until she was about 14 that the athletic boys who had gotten bigger than her were also clearly stronger. But she was still more than a match for the average boys, and she was always ready to prove it to them. And she loved to show how easily she could dominate any of the younger boys. One of the younger boys was a macho jock type who got upset with the idea that he could be beaten by a girl, tomboy or not. The more it bothered him, the more the tomboy looked for chances to overpower him and rub it in that she was tougher than him. Over the winter he began a workout routine to be sure he could beat her the next spring.

The next spring he challenged her to armwrestle, and shocked everyone by steadily powering her arm down to the table. After some dissing between them he dared her to fight him. She was still slightly taller than him and she’d always been able to beat him easily, so she accepted his challenge, and went after him. She couldn’t seem to hurt him or control him. He was just too explosively strong. She struggled with all her might against his new power and aggression, but soon he took control and pinned her on her back. He didn't let her up until she admitted that girls are weak and boys are strong. And he threatened to remind her of this anytime she forgot.

Talking to my neighbor afterwards, she was really shocked, embarrassed and humiliated to have been made to feel so weak and helpless, and then threatened by this younger kid she had always beaten and who was not even as big as her. She totally gave up any idea of competing with boys after that. But that was a matter of her own feelings, not an unbridgeable strength gap between the sexes, because she was still stronger than the non-jocks and the boys who didn’t work out - maybe as many as half the guys in her class.

Did she bully boys physically? Did she overpower or fight lots of guys? How old were you when this happened?

I had a neighbor who wasn't a bully, but loved to overpower boys. In general guys didn't consider it humiliating to get beat up by her, because she was tougher than almost all of the boys.

That bully must have been working out to get the kind of physique you describe. She was probably stronger than you even when you won the fight. I'd guess that when you thought you punched her in the stomach, you actually got in a lucky punch that hit her partly in the solar plexus. She was struggling to breathe, so her strength and speed were gone and you got a big opening to hammer her. I'd wager that she would have beat you in a rematch.

I agree with commando that this girl could probably beat you at least half the time. But I don't agree with the implication that a boy should be ashamed to lose to a girl. I lived next door to a broad-shouldered muscular tomboy who was stronger and tougher than the boys her age. She had thick hard biceps that even put some older boys to shame. She rarely lost at wrestling fighting, or tests of strength. Losing to her wasn't like losing to a "girl" and nobody teased a boy who lost to her.

She could still beat most boys when she suffered a defeat that shattered her confidence and she stopped competing with boys. Otherwise I'd send her to stick each of you on your back - lol

Girls and boys both vary in strength. Statistically, up to age 13, the strongest girls are stronger than the average boy. My neighbor was such a girl, a naturally muscular tomboy who was rougher, tougher and more aggressive than the boys in elementary school. A big part of her identity was being the girl who could overpower or outfight boys. The boys mostly learned to accept her as one of the guys when it came to tests of strength or fights. Boys who would die of embarrassment if they were somehow overpowered or beaten by a “girlie girl” were not at all ashamed to lose to the tomboy, because they knew the other boys couldn’t beat her either.

By age 14 the more athletic boys had grown bigger and stronger than the tomboy, but the more average boys found that she was still more than a match for their strength and ability. And she loved to show how easily she could dominate any of the younger boys. One of the younger boys was a macho jock type who got more and more upset with the idea that he could be beaten by a girl, tomboy or not. The more it bothered him, the more the tomboy looked for chances to overpower him and rub it in that she was tougher than him. Over the winter he began a workout routine to be sure he could beat her the next spring.

The next spring he challenged her to armwrestle, and shocked everyone by steadily powering her arm down to the table. After some dissing between them he dared her to fight him. She was still slightly taller than him, with broader shoulders and she was probably better at fighting and wrestling. She instantly accepted his challenge, eager to avenge her loss at armwrestling. She attacked first, but he was just too explosively strong. She couldn’t seem to hurt him or control him. She struggled with all her might against his new power and aggression, but soon he took control and pinned her on her back. He didn't let her up until she admitted that girls are weak and boys are strong. And he threatened to remind her of this anytime she forgot.

Afterwards the tomboy was really shocked, embarrassed and humiliated to have been made to feel so weak and helpless, and then threatened by a boy who was younger and smaller than her. Some of her friends told her to start working out and she'd soon teach him a lesson he wouldn't forget. But her spirit was broken. She said he was too tough for a girl to fight and she was afraid that he would really hurt her if she ever tried to fight him again. A1so her parents didn't approve of girls working out, and they didn't like her tomboy ways. Almost instantly she went from “boy killer” to “only a girl” in her own eyes and in the eyes of the boys.

With her naturally muscular upper body and her history against boys, its pretty certain that she would have stayed ahead of most boys if she had started working out instead of giving up after her defeat.