The Personal Website of Mark W. Dawson

Containing His Articles, Observations, Thoughts, Meanderings,
and some would say Wisdom (and some would say not).

Vive La Difference

(used to express appreciation of diversity, especially between the sexes)

Men and Woman Are Different

Men and Woman are different, different physiologically and psychologically. When I utilize these terms I do so in an intellectual manner as follows:

Physiological - Of or relating to the biological study of physiology.
Physiology - The branch of the biological sciences dealing with the functioning of organisms.
Psychological - Mental or emotional as opposed to physical in nature.

The best proof of these differences is in when a comedian pokes fun at men and women and the audience laughs. They laugh because they know there are differences and they understand the differences. Even Wikipedia has an article on “Sex differences in humans”. In addition, you can find thousands of web articles on these differences, and I have excerpted three of these articles below to illuminate these differences.

It is important that we recognize these differences. Recognize them in early child development, education, employment, sports and entertainment, and other social constructs. If we do not recognize these differences and deal with them we are a dysfunctional society.

I base my definition on the sex of an individual on their DNA Chromosomal structure. A male has an XY chromosome structure while a female has an XX chromosome structure. While it is true that some individuals have an abnormality in their DNA chromosome structure (Klinefelter syndrome (XXY), Triple X syndrome (XXX), Turner syndrome (X), and XXYY syndrome (XXYY)) these individuals are outliers that must be dealt with on an individual basis. In this article, I will be dealing with the normal male and female XX and XY chromosome structure individuals. This definition is based on the physiology, and not the psychology, of a person.

These differences between the sexes are a part of human nature. Human nature that is the part of our psyche and is a result of millions of years of evolution. An evolution that has reinforced these differences to aid in the survival of our species. It is a basic part of all humans. We must all acknowledge our human nature and account for it in our dealings with others, as well as in the creation and administration of social policy. To not do so will result in much effort, time, and monies being spent on a task that is doomed to failure. And failure is what is inevitable if you do not account for human nature.

Evolution has differentiated between a male as a hunter-gather-protector and a female that is nurturer-conservator-pacifier. Evolution that reinforced the differences between a male and female to better each sex in the performance of their roles. Evolution that has made the male a risk taker and the female as a risk avoider. Evolution that has reinforced our Psychological and Psychological capabilities to meet the demands of our male-female roles. And this evolution has served us well for millions of years.

Starting in the mid-20^th century, and accelerating in the 21^st century, our technological society has altered the roles of the male and female in society. But this alteration has not changed the Psychological and Psychological aspects of our Human Nature. It has only changed our intellectual approach to male-female roles. But the basic differences between men and women are still in our Psychological and Psychological makeup. We cannot ignore them and we cannot pretend that they are minor. We must find a sociological solution to deal with them as they exist to better our society.

There is then the question of Nature vs. Nurture. There is no doubt that nurturing can accentuate the positive and negative nature of a person, but it cannot reverse nor overcome nature. Good nurturing helps a person become better, while bad nurturing can make a person worse. Good nurturing can assist a person in governing their natural impulses and assist them in making good decisions in their behavior and actions with regards to themselves and others. Bad nurturing will allow a person to succumb to the natural impulses that can lead to poor decisions for themselves and anti-social behavior to others. But nurturing cannot change the inherent physiological or psychological differences between the sexes. These physiologically or psychologically differences must be accounted for while nurturing a person. Men and women need to be nurtured in different manners. A boy must be nurtured to master his aggressive nature and become a responsible man. A girl must be nurtured to become more assertive and self-reliant so that she can become an autonomous (i.e. free from external control and constraint in e.g. action and judgment) woman. Society would be much better if this nurturing is successful for both boys and girls.

Men and women bring different skills and abilities, and different motivations and goals to any endeavor. This is why most of the hard labor, dirty, and dangerous jobs are done by men. It is also why most to the caring and social interaction jobs are done by women. Men and woman gravitate to the employment that utilizes their strengths and minimizes their weaknesses. These strengths and weakness are a part of the evolutionary process that differentiated men and woman. The social policy goal should be to integrate these factors to produce a better and more harmonious society that allows all people to achieve to their best capabilities and personal goals. Therefore, the societal goal should not be the equality of the sexes but the equal opportunity for an individual to achieve to their best capabilities and personal goals.

Competition between persons should not be between the sexes but between individual person capabilities. The rewards for achievement should be based on the value the person brings to the endeavor (see my article on “Equal Pay for Equal Work”). And no one should be forced to compete with another in which they have an unequal physiologically or psychologically difference unless they should freely choose to enter this competition. The person who freely chooses to enter this competition needs to be aware of their inherent differences that may impact their success or failure, as well as their rewards for participating in the endeavor.

Because of the inherent differences between men and woman, there is no “One size fits all” in many areas of human interactions. Social policy needs to incorporate these male-female differences where appropriate. The most important arenas that require this incorporation are early child development, education, and sports competition. You cannot treat men and woman as the same in these arenas as their physiological and psychological differences are so disparate that you need to tailor, and perhaps in appropriate situations separate the sexes within these arenas. To not do so sets up an inequality that has negative repercussions. The people responsible for these arenas need to be educated and aware of the male-female differences and adjust their methods and processes to incorporate these differences. Separation of the sexes can be a good social policy in these arenas as they can produce better outcomes for the individuals within these arenas. These questions should be kept in mind for all other arenas of human endeavors and a value judgment should be made. But the value judgment should be made primarily on what is best for the individuals with a secondary concern as to what is best for society. To do otherwise would have negative consequences by aggravating tensions or increasing bitterness between the sexes and leading to perhaps social discord and civil unrest.

Unfortunately, we are beginning to see the negative repercussions of not recognizing the differences between men and woman and incorporating these differences into our social policy. In today’s society we have a generation of young males that feel disconnected from society, do not develop themselves to their full capabilities, do not mature into becoming responsible men, and they become dependent on society rather than a contributor to society. We must begin to take action to rectify this situation or suffer the consequences.

For those of you still not convinced that there are significant differences between men and woman, I would remind you that over 90% of prisoners are male, while over 90% of prostitutes are female.

14 Real Physical Differences Between Men and Women (Besides the Obvious)

(from Thoughtcatalog.com)

Everyone reading this should already know the fundamental differences between male and female genitalia—if not, it’s time you asked Mom and Dad to give you “the talk.” But men and women’s bodies are different in many ways beyond mere ding-dongs and coochies. It is time we set aside our differences of opinion and celebrate our biological differences!

Men get fat on the belly, women on the ass and thighs.
Women tend to have a higher percentage of body fat than men do, but they’re smart enough to store the fat behind them, not right in front of them where everyone can see.
Men and women see things differently.
When it comes to depth perception, distance vision, and lighted environments, men have the edge. Women have better night vision, better visual memory, and can see more of the red end of the color spectrum than men can. Women blink twice as often as men. And men are about ten times more likely than women to be color-blind.
Men are larger.
On average, men are about 10% larger than women. This is a pattern that persists from birth, since boy infants tend to be larger than girls.
Men are stronger.
Estimates vary wildly, but the average estimate is that men have about 30% more upper body strength than women do. It has been estimated that only one in twenty women is as strong as the average man.
Girls mature more quickly.
Girls generally reach puberty two years earlier than boys do, and it takes the boys the rest of their lives to grow up.
Men are much more prone to nearly every illness than women.
Women are thought to have more resistance to disease due to the fact that their adrenal glands produce more cortin than men’s do. The only three diseases that women die from more often than men are breast cancer, female reproductive disorders, and benign tumors. Otherwise, every other disease, including of course cancer and heart disease, kills men at a higher frequency.
Women live longer.
On average in the USA, women live five years longer than men do. Men suffer a higher death rate throughout life than women do.
Men’s and women’s vital organs differ in size and efficiency.
Men have larger hearts and lungs than women. Women have larger livers, stomachs, thyroid glands, and kidneys than men. Women have lower blood pressure and a faster heartbeat than men.
Men’s fertility lasts longer.
Many men are able to reproduce all the way into their 70s, while female fertility starts decreasing after 35.
You can tell a lot by looking at their fingers.
In general, a woman’s index finger is longer than the finger next to her pinkie; with men, it’s the opposite.
Men are big hairy apes.
After puberty kicks in, men develop giant musty patches of hair all over their bodies, often making them indistinguishable from the legendary Sasquatch of the Pacific Northwest. Women are far less hairy and thus more fully human.
Men burn calories faster than women do.
If you were looking for one reason that the patriarchy must be abolished, there it is.
Their bones are different.
Women’s skeletal structures have wider hips, broader facial bones, smaller chins, a longer trunk, and shorter legs than men.
Women have more erogenous zones.
A greater area of the female body is susceptible to sexual stimulation than the male’s. Either that, or women are just sexier.

Brain Differences Between Genders

(from psychologytoday.com)

It’s no secret that boys and girls are different—very different. The differences between genders, however, extend beyond what the eye can see. Research reveals major distinguishers between male and female brains.

Scientists generally study four primary areas of difference in male and female brains: processing, chemistry, structure, and activity. The differences between male and female brains in these areas show up all over the world, but scientists also have discovered exceptions to every so-called gender rule. You may know some boys who are very sensitive, immensely talkative about feelings, and just generally don’t seem to fit the “boy” way of doing things. As with all gender differences, no one way of doing things is better or worse. The differences listed below are simply generalized differences in typical brain functioning, and it is important to remember that all differences have advantages and disadvantages.

Processing

Male brains utilize nearly seven times more gray matter for activity while female brains utilize nearly ten times more white matter. What does this mean?

Gray matter areas of the brain are localized. They are information- and action-processing centers in specific splotches in a specific area of the brain. This can translate to a kind of tunnel vision when they are doing something. Once they are deeply engaged in a task or game, they may not demonstrate much sensitivity to other people or their surroundings.

White matter is the networking grid that connects the brain’s gray matter and other processing centers with one another. This profound brain-processing difference is probably one reason you may have noticed that girls tend to more quickly transition between tasks than boys do. The gray-white matter difference may explain why, in adulthood, females are great multi-taskers, while men excel in highly task-focused projects.

Chemistry

Male and female brains process the same neurochemicals but to different degrees and through gender-specific body-brain connections. Some dominant neurochemicals are serotonin, which, among other things, helps us sit still; testosterone, our sex and aggression chemical; estrogen, a female growth and reproductive chemical; and oxytocin, a bonding-relationship chemical.

In part, because of differences in processing these chemicals, males on average tend to be less inclined to sit still for as long as females and tend to be more physically impulsive and aggressive. Additionally, males process less of the bonding chemical oxytocin than females. Overall, a major takeaway of chemistry differences is to realize that our boys at times need different strategies for stress release than our girls.

Structural Differences

A number of structural elements in the human brain differ between males and females. “Structural” refers to actual parts of the brain and the way they are built, including their size and/or mass.

Females often have a larger hippocampus, our human memory center. Females also often have a higher density of neural connections into the hippocampus. As a result, girls and women tend to input or absorb more sensorial and emotive information than males do. By “sensorial” we mean information to and from all five senses. If you note your observations over the next months of boys and girls and women and men, you will find that females tend to sense a lot more of what is going on around them throughout the day, and they retain that sensorial information more than men.

Additionally, before boys or girls are born, their brains developed with different hemispheric divisions of labor. The right and left hemispheres of the male and female brains are not set up exactly the same way. For instance, females tend to have verbal centers on both sides of the brain, while males tend to have verbal centers on only the left hemisphere. This is a significant difference. Girls tend to use more words when discussing or describing incidence, story, person, object, feeling, or place. Males not only have fewer verbal centers in general but also, often, have less connectivity between their word centers and their memories or feelings. When it comes to discussing feelings and emotions and senses together, girls tend to have an advantage, and they tend to have more interest in talking about these things.

Blood Flow and Brain Activity

While we are on the subject of emotional processing, another difference worth looking closely at is the activity difference between male and female brains. The female brain, in part thanks to far more natural blood flow throughout the brain at any given moment (more white matter processing), and because of a higher degree of blood flow in a concentration part of the brain called the cingulate gyrus, will often ruminate on and revisit emotional memories more than the male brain.

Males, in general, are designed a bit differently. Males tend, after reflecting more briefly on an emotive memory, to analyze it somewhat, then move onto the next task. During this process, they may also choose to change course and do something active and unrelated to feelings rather than analyze their feelings at all. Thus, observers may mistakenly believe that boys avoid feelings in comparison to girls or move to problem-solving too quickly.

These four, natural design differences listed above are just a sample of how males and females think differently. Scientists have discovered approximately 100 gender differences in the brain, and the importance of these differences cannot be overstated. Understanding gender differences from a neurological perspective not only opens the door to greater appreciation of the different genders, it also calls into question how we parent, educate, and support our children from a young age.

Key Differences Between Male and Female

(from focusonthefamily.com)

Aside from the obvious physical distinctions, what are the essential differences between male and female? I'm disturbed by all of the gender-bending and -blending that's been promoted in society over the past few decades. I believe there are unique differences between the sexes that should be affirmed and celebrated. At the same time, I don't know exactly how to respond when friends on the other side of this issue challenge me to identify and describe them. Can you help me?

The distinction between male and female is very real and very deeply rooted in human nature and human physiology. What's more, research indicates that it's universal from culture to culture and that it finds expression in almost every area of life.

This idea is, of course, fundamental to the biblical view of mankind. In the very first chapter of Genesis we are told that "God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them" (Genesis 1:27; emphasis added). The implication is clear: the distinction between the sexes is not only basic to human nature, it's also uniquely reflective of the divine. In some way we cannot fully grasp, it presents us with a visible image or picture of the unseen triune Creator.

To this last thought we should add that, while the Bible does underscore the importance of the male-female dichotomy, and while it does represent this dichotomy as being fundamental to human nature and offers us some basic principles, it does not give us an itemized description of maleness and femaleness, nor does it tell us exactly how this distinction is supposed to be played out in many of the details of everyday life. For that we have to look to God's design in creation and try to draw some conclusions on the basis of our observations there. In the course of this investigation, we must make sure that the differences we posit are genuinely creation-based and not merely culturally determined. They must be humanly universal: internationally, inter-culturally, and historically consistent and valid.

What, then, are some of the key differences between males and females? In his book Secure Daughters, Confident Sons (Chapter One, "What Makes a Good Man?" and Chapter Two, "What Makes a Good Woman?") author Glenn Stanton lists a number of distinctive traits that he believes to be characteristic of men and women respectively. These lists are not intended to be exhaustive – obviously, each individual is unique. As Stanton is careful to point out, there are many different "styles" of masculinity and femininity, and every reader could probably cite a number of additional characteristics that seem basic to his or her identity as a man or a woman. Keeping these qualifiers in mind, we would suggest that the qualities he enumerates, which we've summarized below, represent a good starting point from which to begin building a basic understanding of essential maleness and femaleness.

A male's orientation toward life tends to be outward.

Every boy and every man is on a quest. He discovers his identity "out there" in the world where he senses his larger purpose and destiny lie.
Determined to "deliver the goods." A man places great stock in knowing that he has what it takes to complete the quest and accomplish the task at hand.
Needs to know what's next. Unlike a woman, he isn't inclined to "cuddle," to "savor" meaningful experiences, or to "linger" in the moment. Generally speaking, he's anxious to move on to the next thing.
To put it another way, the male is a doer; and in the final analysis, his feelings about what he's doing or his reasons for doing it are less important to him than the urge and the opportunity to get it done.
Takes chances. To seize and make the most of his opportunities, a boy or a man must be willing to take chances. Accordingly, a propensity to run a certain degree of risk is fundamental to the male character.
All of this presumes a certain willingness and ability to "take the bull by the horns" and make things happen. It also suggests that leadership, while not necessarily an exclusively male prerogative, is nevertheless more deeply rooted in the nature of men and boys.
Active and aggressive. There's an obvious connection between initiation and active aggression. In light of this, it's interesting to note that the male brain is two-and-a-half times larger and more vital in the center devoted to aggression and action than the female brain.
Competitive and dominant. Men want the best and will expend incredible energy toward getting it.

A woman's perspective tends to be more inwardly directed.

"Confidently enticing." Unlike the male, who must go out into the world to find his destiny, the woman possesses her future within herself. She has a hidden but deep confidence in this.
Values intimacy above action. A woman cares more about being than doing, and she finds the reason for her being in relationship.
Wisely (selectively) receptive. Though she values relationships above all else, a woman does not enter into them indiscriminately. She chooses slowly and receives wisely.
Seeks security. Because her orientation is inward, toward relationships, nurturing, and "nesting," the female of the species puts a premium on safety and security. To a far greater extent than the male, she values qualities like "dependability" and "trustworthiness" in a potential mate.
Prefers modesty. A confident woman knows that she possesses something very precious and valuable – the power of her femininity – and she is driven by an innate desire to protect it. Modesty is fundamental to her nature.
The female is more naturally inclined to respond to the distressed, the needy, or the hurting with immediate compassion and care.
Uses words. Men talk to communicate information or ideas. Women talk to communicate feelings and thoughts. As a result, women tend to use more words than men.
Desires equity and submission. A woman wants to be a man's equal, but an equal of a very special kind. At a deep and fundamental level she has a strong desire to be led, protected, and cared for.
Wields "soft power" which shapes humanity. Women have the ability to wield great and subtle influence in marriage and domestic relationships.
The female is wired to connect with others on many different levels.