Brothers Make You Tough

I'm overhearing a conversation about siblings right now. The two people involved are discussing girls and how having brothers made them "tougher" and "just different". As this conversation went on, these two seemed to imply that girls without brothers were "wimpy" in some way because they didn't have brothers to beat the hell out of them.

So, guys and gals, what do you think of this theory? It can apply to boys as well who maybe only had sisters growing up. I found it ridiculous, because having three younger sisters growing up seemed worse than having brothers.

Alternative topic: what is your role as either a sibling or an only child in your family? If you had brothers and/or sisters, how did they affect the way you grew up?

I was the youngest by like 8 years so I got my butt kicked all day everyday.

My siblings are 8 and 11 years older than me, so when I were a kid they were already quite old and were more like parents than actual siblings to me, so I count myself as an only child. I'm not very tough at all! so that's one more to support the theory of the people you're listening in on.

That said, even if you don't have siblings, you might have many other kids around you that would give you the same treatment as a sibling, so it's definitely not the only factor that plays part in whether you're tough or not.

5 Bizarre Ways Your Siblings Made You Who You Are | Cracked.com


I have a brother three years younger than me. He was always competitive about everything because he thought our parents favored me. I think he got this impression because he was always cranky and mischievous while I was quiet and afraid of everything ever, so our parents had to spend more time scolding him than they did me. Because of this I had to wait until both of us were old enough to get new privileges, such as going to a friend's house without my mom, riding the bus home from school, walking home from school, driving, etc.

Hey Rubahs what was I babbling about that one time about socialization between boys and girls?

(yeah like can I can be any vaguer)

My family has 3 boys. So there's 4 men in the house wrecking everything and playing video games and driving my mom crazy.

Is that what you mean Shorty? My mom's a nagging, loud, yelling psychopath, so I guess so!

I have two older brothers and so when growing up I did get 'picked on' by them but I did also join in with their play fighting and stuff like that. I don't think they made me tough but I would say I'm more strong minded then some people, I tend to not let things get to me and bother me too much. Now I have two younger brothers and a younger sister as well and I think for them having three elder siblings it's probably affected them a lot.

My brother was mean to me for a period, and I was annoying for a period, and then one day all at once we got along and have since then. Now we voluntarily live together more as roommates than siblings and get along very well. It was all very strange. He did not make me tough, though. Not at all. In fact, he usually has to come to my protection more than anything, which is sad at the age of 24. Oh well.

Im 3 years older than my sister but a year younger than my cousin....so I kinda had someone to help me...but I grew up a little faster than an average kid.....and trust me I toughened my sister up ALOT lol

I have two brothers, and it definitely had an effect on my socializing skills.

I have an older and a younger sister, my parents are divorced and I lived with my mother. I know all about you women :shifty:

I have 2 brothers and a sister, all of which are within 5 years of eachother. Older brother (3 years older) used to pick on us all, so then I picked on my younger brother (1 and a half years younger). My sister was relatively immune. The circle of life ^^

My sister is nearly 12 years younger than me, so I grew up as an only child. I'm not sure how you define "tough," but I've always been very independent and strong-willed.

After my sister was 6, I wasn't even around the vast majority of the time due to college, so she really grew up an only child as well. And she is certainly not tough.

I have to siblings

Sister elder to me by a year

Brother younger to me by three....


Only a few aspects can apply to me

My sister is smart
My Sisters is still a domineering b!tch at times...
My brother gets more sex than I do

Where do I stand?!:eek:

I grew up wanting to do everything my elder brother did (he's two years older than me); I'd hang around him and his friends (who were all boys) and I'd want to do boy things. When he played tennis I wanted to, when he signed up for karate practice I wanted to, when he got a BMX I wanted one, when he played football with his friends I wanted to join them etc. I enjoyed playing with boys rather than girls, and I was quite the tomboy even though I liked dolls and nail polish and other girly things. My elder brother and father were the reason I got into sports and games and computers.

I know for a fact that if it weren't for my elder brother and me looking up to him, wanting to be like him, I would've turned out different as I grew up. I would've been much less tomboyish had I not had an elder brother who was your typical boy. He was my best friend until he decided to ditch me for his friends, and exclude me whenever they'd do things he thought were too dangerous for me. :( And from that point on he'd never want to spend much time with me anymore, and I'd feel pretty lonely.

And BAM, I turned into a real lone wolf.

I'm thankful I had brothers and not just a sister as I grew up; it's a completely different challenge if you have siblings of both sexes rather than one, and you learn so much. I think I'd have felt lonelier though, if I'd grown up without a sister, but in spite of all the difficult times I'm thankful for my brothers.

I have quite a lot of half-siblings from my dad's former relationships. My dad is quite older than my mother, so some of my half-siblings are about the same age as my mother. That being said, we've always hade a good relationship, but I would be lying if I said that they've had any particular influence on me.

I don't even know what tough really is. My siblings definitely shape my life, but not because they beat me up or anything. :p

the girls with brothers I've known tend to be coddled by them, if anything. Boys with brothers probably roughhouse more

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Originally Posted by rubah

the girls with brothers I've known tend to be coddled by them, if anything. Boys with brothers probably roughhouse more

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I rough housed with my brothers. And we all played Power Rangers and Transformers together, because their toys were way cooler than my Barbies.

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I rough housed with my brothers. And we all played Power Rangers and Transformers together, because their toys were way cooler than my Barbies.

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I used to make my GI Joe action figures have scandalous relationships with Barbie. Nine months later a troll doll popped up and GI Joe tortured Barbie until she revealed that she was a dirty, dirty whore.

When's the next one due?

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Originally Posted by Clo

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Originally Posted by rubah

the girls with brothers I've known tend to be coddled by them, if anything. Boys with brothers probably roughhouse more

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I rough housed with my brothers. And we all played Power Rangers and Transformers together, because their toys were way cooler than my Barbies.

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yeah same here - I don't think we ever had any barbie dolls or anything. We were poor and as the first child my older brother got all the cool toys and we got his hand downs. Although a whole load of Star Wars figures was not a bad thing! I loved shoving them into Rancor's mouth and they stayed in his belly ^^

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Originally Posted by Raistlin

When's the next one due?

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She was summarily executed shortly after her admission of guilt.

Having an older brother definitely made me act like more of a tom-boy. He was four years older, and apparently I was never happy unless I was following "John John" like a shadow. So instead of being a normal girl and playing with dolls (stereotypical), I'd play with dinosaurs and cars with my brother; it was my brother who got me into videogames for this very reason!

if i had a sister, incest

For 5 years, it was just me and my big brother, and we have had an amazing bond since I was born. I used to sit in my little bouncy chair and watch him play mario before i could even walk, and at the age of three, i picked up my first nes controller so i could play mario with my way cool big brother. He is also the reason why I got into computers and anime and so many other things. Though at the same time, I loved having my mom paint my nails and play barbies with me and dress me up and put my hair in a braid.

I'm the oldest not only in my nuclear family, but I'm the very first grandchild, and the first Italian-American child born. So I'm the one people make the fuss about. My aunts and uncles are trying to mold their children into me, which is kind of weird, but they say it's because I'm smart and a hard worker and a go-getter, so maybe it makes sense? IDK. XD

My brother is 2 years younger. I alternate between lovingly bossing him around and lecturing about life and nerding about talking about video games and memes with him.

I'm the older brother by three years, and I like to think I toughened my brother up. He could probably kick my arse now and I'm 19. I'm so proud!

My brother is just about to hit his teens and will soon be old enough to beat me up which is going to suck because I've been tormenting him for years and soon he will get his revenge...

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Originally Posted by Jessweeee♪

5 Bizarre Ways Your Siblings Made You Who You Are | Cracked.com

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I was going to post that. :(

Based on my own experience, I approve of this theory to a certain extent. I have an older brother who used to fling me in the air and play wrestling matches with me. As a result, I am pretty tough. I also I have a younger sister so it balances out.

EDIT: He is also the reason why I got into video games because my parents bought games for him and we'd play together.

My brother turned eight on Sunday, so... that makes me basically an only child. I guess I'm tough when it comes to him, making him wear his hearing aids and giving him his insulin shots. xD

i have two older brothers, one ten years older, one six.

and probably the only distinct characteristic i have that can be traced back directly and exclusively to them is my love of video games. :D

My brother never does anything to me and never bullies me around so I don't think he's making me tougher at all. And he's also 11 years older than me. He treats me like a princess. :D

The age of the brother definitely has a lot to do with it. If my brother was 10+ years older then me I doubt he would've done any of the stuff I described earlier. He's not even in to wrestling anymore. He grew out of it.

I have 4 brothers and a sister. My brothers are 8-12 years older and my sister is 15 years older than me so she basically just baby sat me. Joel the youngest of my brothers is the only one I really ever hung out with. I've been to a few of my sisters parties wit my brother Jason. Jimmy and Jason never were mean to me but Kris and Joel always beat me up!

Wait until you bums with kid siblings turn 28-30 years old - those 'kids' will be growing up so fast.

I started to be friends with my brother (11 yrs younger, not the 3.5 years younger one) when we started to play the same video games and like the same stuff. Also he's an actual pokemon master, unlike me (I'm more of a pokemon annoyance)

PG is a the pokemon master!

Brothers makes you super tough actually!!

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/729269/Image...ers5_super.jpg

I am the youngest of my family, with my brother being 4 years older, and my sister being 8 years older, and considering that me and my brother physically fought everyday until I was around 7, I'm pretty sure that my siblings, or at least my brother, made me who I am today, and because my brother had a 4 year advantage on me, I am now very pain resiliant.

Not HARD though. :mymelbert: