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We're not sure why males write like cavemen and females like angels. There are a few theories, though -- like this one from the MadSci Network. The post argues that girls often have neater handwriting because they "tend to be more calm and patient at younger ages." Assuming that's true, girls may pay closer attention to lessons on penmanship. Of course, this is a generalization, and many other factors contribute to whether a person scrawls chicken scratch. Age, coordination, and personality each play a part. Christina Hoff Sommers explains
a few unfortunate side effects of poor penmanship in males. According to her article, handwriting appears to be correlated with a child's grades. "Several studies have confirmed that, when teachers are asked to grade papers of comparable quality, those that are neatly written get higher marks." Bad news for grade-grubbing boys. While we wouldn't call poor penmanship a crisis, the gender discrepancy is cause for concern. Unless, of course, you're hoping your son grows up to be a doctor...
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