Differences between men and women

[Mirry]

This was a topic that my history class got to debating about recently, so I wanted to know what you guys thought on the subject.

There are the obvious differences between men and women -- that is, genitals. But what about the differences between the sexes that aren't so obvious? Are these differences genetic, or are they societal/just stereotypes?

For example, do you think women are more emotional than men? Or do men just generally seem less emotional because there's all of the "boys don't cry" kind of pressure from society?

Are women better equipped to raise children than men? Can the "traditional role of women" be justified by saying that women are inherently better at things like caring for kids, cooking, cleaning, etc.?

One of the things my history teacher told us, was that he thinks women are better at solving problems than men. Agree, disagree?

As for what I think about it... on a lot of the points I'm not really sure. I wouldn't buy into the idea that it's completely nature that's responsible for the ideas we have about women being emotional and such; I think that society is a big factor here. But I'm not 100% sure what's going on.

 

[Noctowl]

There are loads of things I used to read when I was little that said stuff like "men are better at map reading but women are better at remembering landmarks". I'm not too sure though.

I'm sure men can be as emotional as women. I've seen many a guy cry...so...

 

[Bombsii]

Of course men are just as senstive as women. It varies from person to person. I think that girls would like to work around things and men like to make the first move. I think its all got to do with our instincts from when we were cavemen or something along those lines.

 

[BCM]

For example, do you think women are more emotional than men? Or do men just generally seem less emotional because there's all of the "boys don't cry" kind of pressure from society?

Many men just don't cry as much because of pressure from society; I don't care about peer pressure and I cry all the time.

Are women better equipped to raise children than men? Can the "traditional role of women" be justified by saying that women are inherently better at things like caring for kids, cooking, cleaning, etc.?

One of the things my history teacher told us, was that he thinks women are better at solving problems than men. Agree, disagree?

I've heard that women mature faster than men. This could be why people think women are better at those things.

 

[Music Dragon]

A woman doesn't come home at night. The next day she tells her husband she slept over at a friend's house. The man calls his wife's ten best friends. None of them know about it.

A man doesn't come home at night. The next day he tells his wife he slept over at a friend's house. The woman calls her husband's ten best friends. Eight of them say he slept over. Two claim he's still there.

 

[Tarvos]

men and women have different priorities and roles in society thanks to the mother having to bear children genetically; this alters physique and makes some other qualities more important in women (women have a greater need to care for children). men generally don't have to have the same priorities as women do and have to be locked down less. mind you this is as a general average and differs from situation to situation. it would just be generally expected from biological heritage.

then there are the anatomical differences.

i think most is just stereotyping based on the classical biological differences. as always, those stereotypes have some truth to them, and I can understand equal rights from a feminist's point of view. but the truth is men and women are different entities genetically and that heritage will always shine through to an extent. the extent differs from surrounding to surrounding.

in no way am I suggesting that men should fuck 1000 women and that women are there for pumping out kids. that is ridiculous. i am merely pointing out that thanks to the biological difference of childbearing some things have been altered in the female expression genetically.

 

[Alexi]

^XD

I think a lot of it is instincts and a lot of it is pressures from society, etc.

On the topic of raising children, mothers have the maternal bond (baby came from inside me, I must protect it with my life) while the fathers today feel like they must work for the bond with their child.

And as far as the feelings of cheating go, I saw something interesting once where it was said that women fear more that their men will fall in love with someone else and leave them than if they were just having sex, versus the male, who fears his woman having sex than loving someone else.

It was said that, back in the cave days, a man did not know if his mate's child was his, and if it wasn't, his genes would not be passed on. Chivalry wasn't really around then, so the man didn't care if his mate liked some other guy more than him, just that she had his baby.

The woman, on the other hand, did know who was the father of her child, but if she were left alone to fend for herself and her child, it would spell doom for her. She needed a man there. She didn't care if he went and shagged all the other cave women, as long as he came back to help her raise their child, that was she needed.

 

[Mirry]

I did hear once that there are some sort of chemical reactions or something that go on in a woman's brain when she gives birth that make her feel that "maternal bond" with her new child. Don't know if I heard it from a particularly reliable source though (just some girls at my lunch table last year) but I thought it was interesting nonetheless.

 

[Tarvos]

It's probably true. I don't think we know the details, though.

 

[#1 bro]

Isn't the main difference simply: guys have more testosterone, women have more estrogen, testosterone makes you do x, estrogen makes you do y, therefore guys do more x than y, and women do more y than x?

I could be misinformed but :|

 

[Daigonite]

All that is bullshit. I can understand suceptibility to certain diseases due to differences inbetween bodies or horomones, but that psychological stuff is crap.

If that were true, my father would be a woman and my mother a man.

A father can be just as good of a parent as a mother. My father was a single dad for over a decade raising my half brother, and he treated him as a "mother" would.

 

[Shiranui]

I'm fully aware that men can be every bit as sensitive as women; hay guys i cried when several people died and note these were in various movies/manga/anime/books/whathaveyou

also i cannot tolerate animal abuse; i can't even watch animal precinct/aspca etc anymore.

i mean, it definitely depends on the person... myself, i get too easily attached to personalities similar to my own, so it's not cool when that just goes away.

and i like cute little furry things so shut up ):<

i have noticed, though, it is impossible for me to cry in crowds.
like, if there are people watching, my soul could be RIPPED IN HALF and you would not see me cry
can't say i wouldn't be like "nooo" or "wtf" and sad/rage. :|

 

[Daigonite]

As mentioned before, it varies from person to person. You can't seriously draw a conclusion based off so few people.

On average, there are traits that surface in men and others in women. When talking about traits that are supposed to be inherent for men and others women, we have to look at something that is universal.

But if one man acts "feminine", then its a counterexample to the definition of Femine, which is acting like women. You only need one man to prove it false, you need every man to prove it true.

Averaging is an effective way of evaluating data, but in people, it's known as stereotyping.

Simple math logic. And no, I'm not angry. Some people think I get angry real quick on these things.

 

[Evolutionary]

I reckon everything differs for every different person.

And it can depend on who it is that makes people act differently. I doubt a boy would want to cry if a huge crowd was watching or something...

 

[ferrikpm]

it is, all in all, how you are raised. most people have a mother or a father acting how most of their gender act. if, like me, you are the child of two woman, you might act more like a woman, like i do. instinct is for different species, not gender.

 

[Jolty]

A father can be just as good of a parent as a mother. My father was a single dad for over a decade raising my half brother, and he treated him as a "mother" would.

Word. My dad has brought up me and my 2 siblings by himself for almost 8 years now with no problem at all.
In fact when our mum still lived with us, he still did more to help...

Maybe this combined with the fact that I had /no/ female friends till secondary school is why I'm not very feminine at all? :|

 

[Tarvos]

Isn't the main difference simply: guys have more testosterone, women have more estrogen, testosterone makes you do x, estrogen makes you do y, therefore guys do more x than y, and women do more y than x?

I could be misinformed but :|

on average yes

 

[Mirry]

Some things about men and women are universal; even in societies that are almost opposite each other culturally, men and women behave differently. This can be seen even in groups isolated from the modern world.

Can you give an example/cite some sources to back this statement up? I'm not necessarily disagreeing, but I wonder about the specifics.

 

[Dannichu]

No, I think gender (as we see it) is almost entirely socially constructed; from the moment of birth, people are bombarded with society's expectations and subconsously adhere to them.

A friend of my mother had a baby son last week and when we went over to visit them, the room was full of blue balloons, plushies of dinosaurs and blankets with trains on them. I'd be willing to bet that, had the kid been a girl, it would be a far more pink, with dolls and blankets with bunnies on. Yes, there are exceptions to the rule, but it's pretty much undeniable that gender sterotypes exist; go into any toy shop and the toys will be split according to whether they're suitable for boys and girls. Yes, some girls play with Dr. Who figurines or whatever, but the fact that they're separated says much about society's perceptions of gender.

On Dr. Winston's ongoing documentary Child of Our Time, I remember him doing an experiment with 5-year olds, where they were put into a room with a doll and they all had to pose for a picture with the doll, the girls pretending to be its mother, the boys the father. All of the girls stood nearer to the baby than the boys, and none of the boys touched the baby, while many of the girls picked it up to hug it or whatever.

Also, I looked at a report about gender stereotypes a while back and it discussed a book written by a MtF transexual who claimed that absolutely every aspect of interactions with other people is different when a person is male compated to being female.

I'm not denying there are biological causes, too, but gender constructions are massively due to society and social pressures.

I'll write a much, much better response to this (with sources and everything), when I'm back at uni and have my textbooks; sex and gender's my absolute favourite aspect of sociology X3

 

[Vladimir Putin's LJ]

Well for me it's more of a psychological thing than a physical one because you don't need to have a vagina to be a woman or a penis to be a man. Women do tend to have different thought processes than men and vice-versa. Neither is better than the other, they're just different. I'd elaborate but I don't trust myself when I'm tired because I could easily start spewing complete bull so I'll come back some time.