Boys will be boys: an example of biased and exclusive usage

Abstract Boys will be boys encapsulates most of what is wrong with patriarchy, hegemonic masculinity, gender roles, victimisation of females, and the gender binary, all of which play crucial roles in the continued subjugation and oppression of females in our society. Although most general English dictionaries provide a definition for this expression, this paper will demonstrate how they mischaracterise it, and therefore legitimise the repressive, destructive, and violent manifestations of this cultural mindset. After a brief review of the literature, the paraphrases of meaning that several popular dictionaries provide for this expression will be scrutinised. These will be contrasted with a bias-free and inclusive paraphrase of meaning, to be followed by a discussion and conclusions This paper is based on content from my doctoral dissertation, Kaplan (2020)..