Men Vs. Women? Can we grow up please?

I'm disgusted by the amount of 'battle of the sexes' threads I've come across. We've done a terrible job at denying ignorance on this subject. First off, most of these threads I've seen have to do with the "double standards" that women put on men. There are an equal amount of double standards set on BOTH men AND women. Neither sex is greater or less than the other. I'm aware that a single thread isn't going to stop sexism, but someone needs to step up and speak some truth. I will be breaking this down between scientific facts, logical reasoning, and a bit of my own philosophy. I understand this thread is quite lengthy but bear with me.

Our time here is short enough. We've already wasted enough of it on war, fighting, racism ect. Are we going to continue to be so ridiculous and petty as to argue over gender?! Yes for centuries the difference between men and women were socially defined through a dirty, distorted sexist lens. Men were deemed superior over women through physical domination until it just stuck. I believe this was derived utterly from the animal in us. We've come a long way from completely uncivilized animals people.

Now back to denying ignorance. To understand the true nature of man and woman, we must set aside social subjectivity and look at the facts. As I said before, neither sex is greater or less than the other. Physically men usually have greater upper body strength, they build muscle much easier than women, they have thicker skin, bruise less easily and have a lower threshold of pain sensitivity. Aside from obvious physical differences, men and women have completely different physiological wiring. There are actually differences in the way women’s and men’s brains are structured and in the way they react to events and stimuli. Let's look at some of those differences.

Women have four times as many brain cells (neurons) connecting the right and left side of their brain. Men tend to process better in the left hemisphere of the brain while women tend to process equally well between the two hemispheres. This difference explains why men are generally stronger with left-brain activities such as mathematics and problem solving and approach problem-solving from a task-oriented perspective while women typically solve problems more creatively and are more aware of feelings while communicating.

Typically, men’s brains are 11-12% bigger than women’s brains. This size difference has absolutely nothing to do with intelligence, but is explained by the difference in physical size between men and women. Men need more neurons to control their greater muscle mass and larger body size, thus generally have a larger brain.

An area of the brain called the inferior-parietal lobule (IPL) is typically significantly larger in men, especially on the left side, than in women. This section of the brain is thought to control mental mathematical ability, and probably explains why men frequently perform higher in mathematical tasks than do women. Interestingly, this is the same area of Einstein’s brain that was discovered to be abnormally large. The IPL also processes sensory information, and the larger right side in women allows them to focus on, "specific stimuli, such as a baby crying in the night."

Women typically have a larger deep limbic system than men, which allows them to be more in touch with their feelings and better able to express them, which promotes bonding with others. Because of this ability to connect, more women serve as caregivers for children. The down side to this larger deep limbic system is that it also opens women up to depression, especially during times of hormonal shifts such as after childbirth or during a woman’s menstrual cycle. (Yes pms and pmdd are REAL).

Men and women perceive pain differently. In studies, women require more morphine than men to reach the same level of pain reduction. Women are also more likely to vocalize their pain and to seek treatment for their pain than are men. The area of the brain that is activated during pain is the amygdala, and researchers have discovered that in men, the right amygdala is activated and in women, the left amygdala is activated. The right amygdala has more connections with areas of the brain that control external functions while the right amygdala has more connections with internal functions. This difference probably explains why women perceive pain more intensely than do men.

Two sections of the brain responsible for language were found to be larger in women than in men, indicating one reason that women typically excel in language-based subjects and in language-associated thinking. Additionally, men typically only process language in their dominant hemisphere, whereas women process language in both hemispheres. This difference offers a bit of protection in case of a stroke. Women may be able to recover more fully from a stroke affecting the language areas in the brain while men may not have this same advantage.

Because of the way men and women use the two hemispheres of the brain differently, there are some disorders that men and women are susceptible to in different ways. Men are more apt to have dyslexia or other language problems. If women have dyslexia, they are more likely to compensate for it. Women, on the other hand, are more susceptible to mood disorders such as depression and anxiety. While handedness is not a disorder, these brain tendencies also explain why more men are left-handed than are women. Men are also more likely to be diagnosed with autism, ADHD, and Tourette’s Syndrome.

Men have a much more difficult time relating to their own feelings, and may feel very threatened by the expression of feelings in their presence. This may cause them to react by withdrawing or attempting to control the situation through a display of control and/or power.

Men are actually more vulnerable and dependent on relationships than women are and are more devastated by the ending, since they have fewer friends and sources of emotional support.

Men are more at ease with their own angry feelings than women are.

Women are in touch with a much wider range of feelings than men, and the intensity of those feelings is usually much greater for women than men. As a result of this, many man perceive that women's feelings appear to change quickly; men may find this irrational and difficult to understand.

Men tend to be more functional in approaching problem-solving; women are aesthetically-oriented in addition to being functional.

Women tend to be much more sensitive to sounds and smells than men are; and women as such tend to place a greater emphasis on "atmosphere".

A lot of these are generalizations, we're all unique and possess different qualities, but as homo-sapiens we all possess a lot of the qualities listed above.

SOCIAL INFLUENCES

Studies of infants:

* Both men and women speak louder to boys than girl infants; they are softer and express more "cooing" with girls. Boys are rarely told they are sweet, pretty, little doll; boys are told they are a pumpkin head or "Hey big guy".

* Boys handled more physically and robustly than girls, bounced around more .

* Girls are caressed and stroked more than boys.

* Up to age 2, mothers tend to talk to and look at their daughters significantly more than than they do with their sons, and make more eye contact with the daughters as well.

* Mothers show a wider range of emotional response to girls than boys. When girls showed anger, mothers faces showed greater facial disapproval than when boys showed anger. May influence why girls grow up smiling more, more social, and better able to interpret emotions than boys.

* Fathers use "Command terms" with boys more than girls; and more than mothers gave.

I hope that you're getting the point, and maybe even have learned a few things.

“Men are physically stronger. By nature, they are usually more aggressive and externally oriented. In contrast, a woman usually embodies the ideal of inner dignity. Some people confuse such subtlety with weakness; in truth, it is stronger than the most aggressive physical force imaginable. True human dignity does not shout; it is a strong, steady voice that speaks from within. The nature of a woman, while subtle, is not weak. And the nature of a man, while aggressive, is not brutish. For man and woman to be complete, they must each possess both energies.”

One of the largest social double standards that I see is feminism, I hope to clear that up at least a little by saying this. Because of years of male dominance feminism does rightfully demand the end of male abuse and dominance, but they are overcompensating for this out of wounds and desperation. But what’s more vital is to get to the root of the distortion. We all need to have empathy and put ourselves in each other’s shoes or we’ll never make it. We are different from each other. Respect those differences. Do not try to change those differences, and do not try to make them go away.

Man and woman are two different forms of divine energy; they are the male and female elements of a single soul. They balance each other out, and in a sense can complete each other. Men and women need to realize their respective equal roles and strive to help each other in their mutual struggle to improve life. Let's try to open our eye's a little wider.


Infant study source

I like your post but think of how boring it would be if we didn't razz each other once in awhile.

Yes, we are different and that leads to humor, fear, jealousy, anger, intrigue and...Love.

I believe we have these threads come up because many want to celebrate our differences and poke fun at them. But as always you will get the haters of both sexes attacking each other. That's what ruins the original intent of the OP.

Just my 2 pennies worth. SnF

And I especially love the humor so I just gotta post this again!

All I can say about the issue of men vs. women is:

I love my women.

reply to post by RightInTwo


There's been a lot of them around lately. The issue though is it's just a few people that do do it, and when they do almost the whole of ats ends up posting on that thread. I think ingenral almost all of us on here agree that both males and females are equal.

Even when you go through the ''sexist'' threads, you notice almost everyone posting is opposing what has been said.

reply to post by Mentalistbee


Yes but I have noticed there are quite a few men who agree with those sexist posts. They need to be reading this!

Bump!