We have this huge rift, supposedly, between males and females. It is referred to as the "Gender Gap." People who speak of the "Gender Gap" aver that males and females are inherently different in all walks of life: the way they think, the way they act, the way they believe. I could not disagree more.

I'm not saying that males and females act, behave and believe the same. I'm just saying that they are not "inherently" different. I'm saying that we, as a society, make them believe in two separate ways.

It starts at home. The day a baby is born, the mother and father dress it in blue if it is a boy and pink if it is a girl. Why? Is there some study that says boys will grow up to be smarter if they are dressed in blue from birth? Did someone decide that girls need to be swaddled in pink to survive?

The next derision the parents make (and all the loving friends and relatives that buy gifts for the new bundle of joy) is to buy different toys. Boys get trucks and action figures, while girls get Barbies and tea sets.

As the children get older, we tell little Suzie not to get her pretty dress dirty, while we change little Ralph's clothes for the fourth time because "boys will be boys." We encourage Suzie to help out in the kitchen while Ralph helps out in the garage. It is not that little girls are born with the instinct to cook or little boys to get dirty. We make them believe they do by our actions.

If you are a parent, think about how many times you have discouraged your daughter from something you encourage your son to do. Think of how many times you asked your daughter, instead of your son, to help around the house . Think of all the times you dressed your daughter in a dress and your son in jeans. How many times has your son been told, "boys don't cry" while your daughter was encouraged to "let it all out?"

It's not just at home that it happens, either. How many times are little girls told they can't play in the neighborhood baseball game, because they are girls? How many times are little boys not invited to tea parties, because they are boys?

Our entire society is under the impression that girls are girls and boys are boys and each has a little niche to fill. We couldn't be more wrong. The difference between boys and girls is mainly in the way we raise them. If we, as parents, start raising our offspring as children instead of as boys and girls, we will notice a great closing of the so called "Gender Gap."