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GoddessManko -> RE: Why are women generally seen as the weaker sex? (8/20/2014 8:05:12 AM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: AKinkCounselor
Statistically, men are stronger. Obviously there are always individual cases where this can be proven inaccurate but if you take the species as a whole, there are obvious physical differences.
Men have greater upper body strength, thicker skin, are less susceptible to bruising, and a lower awareness of pain. The male skull is thicker and stronger than women's
In women the Corpus Calosum, the bridge between the left and right side of the brain is four times larger. This allows a more diverse set of brain functions to be applied to a thought process, which begins to explain the differences in approach. This makes women more intuitive, allowing input from more areas of the brain, whereas men will focus on a single objective and approach it in a goal orientated way.
I could probably fill a couple of pages with things like this, but it is largely irrelevant.
What your friend is suffering from is centuries of sexism that has distorted his view of what women are capable of. There are differences between men and women, but the fact that the U.S. army is currently in the process of allowing women to begin Army Ranger training would suggest that the difference isn't all that great.
Maybe in a few years time, you could find one of those female army rangers, to help him to understand the error of his thoughts.
I loved a lot of what you said but I would add to the bolded part PHYSICALLY. As far as emotional and mental fortitude as you stated, women can hold their own in more ways than one.
But why I quoted you in particular counselor is because you subtley point out exactly what the OP is trying to say. You could have stated the bolded statement differently based on your knowledge of neuroscience but you stated it in a generalized format anyway.
So again, ask, why is it perceived women are the weaker sex?
I believe a part of that is because the male gender is largely aesthetic. They give credence to things that are tangible almost always rather than intangible. They are designed that way for whatever reason. A man might respond very easily to visual stimuli while a woman would need more than that, like cognitive, tactile, olfactory etc.
This can be a very touchy issue if a man doesn't have the ability despite his inherent nature to scratch beneath the surface. That is difficult to do and sometimes you cannot blame him for it. It just MAKES SENSE. There is VISUAL proof to validate his opine, and even more than that.
ANT AND THE ELEPHANT
A man will see a woman and what does he see?
More than likely, someone who is a few inches shorter than him, softer than him (women retain fat and have much smaller muscles than men. Testosterone is what makes a man bulk and have denser bones), someone soft spoken perhaps, or who speaks at a much higher pitch than himself.
I mean just with these few examples right there, you have so many varying forms of stimuli telling the man "she's softer, she's weaker, she's not as strong, big and sturdy as myself".
And that may be true in the physical sense but unless he was taught the ant and elephant analogy, he won't think very much differently (except with the intervention of strong female figures in his life).
Even with some submissive men they might think, "I will ALLOW her to dominate me" rather than "she CAN dominate me". There is a distinctive difference there, as subtle as those statements seem.
I'm very "small" (though I prefer lean, our frames are smaller) compared to most men though I'm 5'9. I am a size 0/1, I have always been perceived as a runner but in actuality I'm a powerlifter.
Now my male counterparts at the gym, many of them young, might see me legpressing 500 lbs and be unimpressed, but when all facts are considered: 1- the length of my legs and muscle which literally makes such feats twice as hard, 2- the fact that yes, I am a woman, I don't have muscle building testosterone overflowing my body the way that they do, 3- my weight:height ratio, even men much shorter than me are almost guaranteed to weigh more. But it HAS HAPPENED, an older, obviously experienced lifter came over to the machine and gave me my props. He asked me "How many times can you press that?" I responded, "20." And to that he said shocked "It's nice to see some of the girls in here are kicking ass." [;)]
I try to give the men with such a perception a bit of leeway and understanding, after all, it's all about propensity (and a bit of mathematics [8|] ) but the ant vs elephant is one you can always use to shift gears in his thinking. Our society doesn't help, women are still paid 30% less than male counterparts and the people most affected by poverty throughout the world are still women and children. Is it a man's world? Yes, and many men are simply born into privilege, they don't know what it's like to be without, they may be lucky, but THEY ARE NOT STRONG. Someone who knows real struggle and the uphill climb necessary to defy the odds is far stronger.
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