Masculinity / Lycanthropy.
Note the linguistic horror story that is the phrase “boys will be boys.”
“Boys.” Males of the species. Fifty percent in a population of the planet’s dominant life form.
“Will.” Future tense. Definitive. Not “may.” Not “could.” “Will.”
“Be.” Present tense and all-encompassing. To exist as, in total.
“Boys.” A mere three words later, and this word no longer means what it meant. It has transformed into a word meaning “negative and hurtful behaviors.”
This is a four-word werewolf tale involving 3.5 billion werewolves, hunting at whim and untethered from the cycles of the moon.
A person who tosses this phrase off with a smile and a shrug is casually reciting a prophecy of doom and telling you that there is nothing we can or should try to do about it. If somebody tells you “boys will be boys,” the only appropriate response is:
“How long have you been a helpless coward?”
Creative Control 