Childhood influence of the opposite sex

R

Rose65

Well-known Member
Location
United Kingdom
Does it make a difference to a man's future relationships if he did not have sisters when growing up? A man I know says it did, as he didn't feel confident talking to girls when he grew up. He still finds women a mystery in many ways because unfortunately his mum died when he was very young. It was a totally male household. As a result he remains single in his fifties.

Vice versa, women who had no brothers, could it make things that much harder in relating to men?
 

Can't say what influence it may have growing up without them, but I grew up with 3 sisters that I have a very good relationship with, and I think it has helped me to always feel comfortable talking with a woman. I think it has also helped me to be more in touch with my emotions. I think being around the opposite sex at a young age does have it's advantages.
 
I grew up with 4 sisters and 2 brothers, all older except one sister, and she
is the only one I communicate with...all the others were judgemental of
my mental oddities....so much for them.....my younger sis takes home my
money when I die, no others.....
 

Had neither sisters or brothers but never gave it a thought. I did have a couple of female cousins who lived a couple of houses away and they were almost like sisters, I suppose.

Met my wife when we were in our teens. Married a couple of years later and we're still together, now pushing 90. If I had any awkward feelings toward females, they must have evaporated into the atmosphere. Never affected us. :)
 
My late sister, Marleen, was a big help to me as I matured into a teenager, she was four years older than I. Before that, we fought like cats and dogs. But sometime around 6th/ 7th grade for me, she started making suggestions about how I wore my hair, how I dressed, and taught me how to dance with a girl. It made my transition into talking to girls and in time, around to dating girls fairly easy. We were close from that time on.

She passed away a few years ago and I still miss her very much. She was a smoker and had smoked since she was 16. In the end, it led her to an early grave. Thankfully, her smoking did not catch on with me, I always hated the smell and mess associated with smoking...so I never smoked.
 
Of course any precious human child will tend do best if influenced over growing years so, by a loving, intelligent, guiding human mother and father. And for kids, having opposite gender siblings, will obviously give them complementing family experiences only sisters might provide, many that have lived in such families would certainly agree can be valuable. Those noted, opposites of course can sometimes be true as family and experiences are immensely varied.
 
Losing his mother at such a young age is trauma. His widowed dad must have been focused on making a living and raising his boys. I wonder if he had grandmother's, aunts, female cousins in his life? Some families are small and some are large and sprawling. I know that not having extended family and being isolated from my stepfather's family has had a very adverse effect on me.
 
I had brothers and sisters but I was always closer to one sister but she passed away when she was 30. Had a closer relationship with an older brother when we were older but now he has dementia and even though he still knows who I am we have drifted apart. My hubby went to an all boys school when he turn 12 yrs old and maintains that it didn't help with getting to know the opposite sex.
 
IrisSenior said:
I had brothers and sisters but I was always closer to one sister but she passed away when she was 30. Had a closer relationship with an older brother when we were older but now he has dementia and even though he still knows who I am we have drifted apart. My hubby went to an all boys school when he turn 12 yrs old and maintains that it didn't help with getting to know the opposite sex.
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That's a good point actually. Are single sex schools a good thing, from the point of view of preparation for life?
I assume they encourage concentration on studying during vital years
 
Rose65 said:
That's a good point actually. Are single sex schools a good thing, from the point of view of preparation for life?
I assume they encourage concentration on studying during vital years
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I imagine it would have mixed benefits and downsides. It may help with concentration and studies, but at the sacrifice of boy / girl relationships that can be a lot of fun in youth, and learning to relate.
 
Rose65 said:
Does it make a difference to a man's future relationships if he did not have sisters when growing up?
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I think it depends on the specific dynamic within the family. My son's mother disliked him(her words), his older sisters picked on him and made him the fall guy for every shitty thing they did. I thought he would turn out to be a serial murderer of women, for sure. However, as adults they've been close friends.
 
I had 2 sisters. I don’t think that helped talking to girls. Most of the girls approached me. My older sister died young (44) of an asthmatic attack. I blamed myself for a long time because I had just left her house 5 minutes earlier and when I was leaving, I heard her coughing. I asked myself if she was having an asthma attack, but I decided not to find out because I had to pick up my daughter from practice. A few hours later I received a call from the local police department telling me I needed to get to the hospital. When I arrived I got the news she had passed. I hurt really bad for a long time.

Today, that may not happen with the more potent medications available. She had a nebulizer and I was told it was lying on the floor beside her. I have a low degree version of her Asthma and use Trelegy when needed.
 

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