The differences between men and woman are profound. Anyone who says there are no differences or the sexes are interchangeable is either woefully ignorant or extremely deceitful.
Recent scientific advancement in MRI, CTs and PET scans allow studying these differences in ways that were not possible thirty years ago. Here, I refer to and recommend His Brain, Her Brain by Walt and Barb Larimore, Zondervan books. There are many other books out there now describing the differences. The following is a generalization of a typical man and woman.
The differences begin with the X-Y chromosomes. At about six week’s gestation, the unborn male baby is flooded by the male hormones (Androgens) namely testosterone and vasopressin. These inhibit the development of female equipment and promote the growth of male genitalia, increase skeletal muscles and change the brain. The increase in skeletal muscle is indicated by a greater activity in boys than in girls.
Brain changes include a decrease in the corpus callosum (the nerve bundle connecting the two halves of the brain). While woman are able to use both halves of their brain at the same time, Men use only half their brain. Communication between the two halves is very slow. We men have compartmentalized brains. We concentrate on one thing at a time. Meanwhile, little girls, are bathed in estrogen which promotes the growth of nerve cells connections between the left and right brain. These nerve endings are connected to the speech center.
The male brain has 6.5 times more grey matter (thinking stuff) than woman’s brain, while the Woman has 9.5 times the white matter (processing stuff). While men’s brain is designed to think consciously, a woman’s brain process things subconsciously. A man is like an old adding machine, a woman like a fast computer. We men might take a while to reach a conclusion, but we know how we got there. A woman just knows the answer. This is where “Woman’s intuition” comes from.
The male brain is ten percent larger than a woman’s brain. However, the woman’s brain is better connected and therefore, more efficient.
A man’s brain is compartmentalized. He will think on one thing exclusively ignoring the rest of the world. This comes in handy when it comes time to go to war, or meet up with any kind of trauma. He can face a problem that overwhelms him in one area, than walk away as if nothing happened.
On the other hand, a woman is so interconnected that everything keeps happening all at once. If she is injured emotionally she will never forget and that injury will permeate everything for the rest of her life.
Men. Do not injure your woman. She will not forget.
A woman’s brain is not only better connected between the two halves, but is well connected to the speech center. Man has the equivalent of one string between two cans for his speech center and brain. A man can sit and think of nothing. A woman calls a man a liar when she asks him what he is thinking about and he answers “Nothing.” For her it is impossible to think of nothing. Her brain is sparking all the time.
A man is driven by testosterone, vasopressin and serotonin. A man is a doer.
A woman by Oxytocin, serotonin, Estrogen and progesterone. A woman relates.
Voice One of the easiest recognized differences between men and woman is the voice. Even as children, a boy’s voice is deeper than a girl’s voice. However, the change taking place around puberty is very obvious. The man has a falsetto voice, a woman does not.
The Eyes have it! Did you know that a man’s eye is built differently from a woman’s eye? She also has a lot more nerve endings connected to the vision center. Woman have a greater proportion of cones to rods than men. This means they see color better than men while men can see better in the dark. Color blindness travels in men although the woman carry the gene. A man’s vision field is narrower than a woman’s. She has greater peripheral vision while a man is better able to focus on distant objects. When combined with a man’s right brain special ability, he is able to drive in the dark while she thinks he is taking chances.
She is able to watch several children at once while man will lose one. Because of her better color recognition and wider field, she is able to find things that are hiding right in front of him.
Hearing She has a wider range of hearing than a man and can hear softer sounds. She uses both sides of her brain when listening and is able to process multiple conversations at once.
A man uses only one side of the brain when he listens and does good to follow one conversation for any length of time.
A woman will hear a faucet drip from a distant room while a man won’t notice when it is in front of him.
Touch and pain From birth a woman reacts much quicker to touch and pain. They have more pain receptors in more parts of their body than men Adult women have ten times greater sensitivity to touch and pressure than men. Oxytocin stimulates the desire for and sensitivity to touch.
Smell and taste. A woman will smell things long before a man notices. Her taste is five times better than a man. This might explain why a man will wolf down his food, burp and say it was good. While a woman prefers candle light, soft music and fancy dishes with her meal.
Systemizing and Empathizing Men like to fix things, to tinker, to make things work. Woman like to talk and relate. Men compete, woman cooperate. Men have maps memorized in their heads. When the travel, they have a starting point, an ending point and the shortest way to get there. Woman see flowers of all kinds and shapes and follow the most interesting trails. Men work 3-d puzzles in their heads, they have built in clocks and compasses. Woman are different. Women talk and emote.
Stress When a man is stressed, he reacts in anger or with action. His brain is connected to the brain stem which controls the muscles of his body. His muscles are primed by testosterone to do things. Adrenalin increases this activity. He tends to act first, think second and maybe later he will recognize a few feelings. This is why he prefers to go off by himself to think about it. Usually, he comes back in a year or two.
A woman will feel first and talk about it.
I left a lot of things out. There are many more differences between men and woman. We are completely different yet somehow still the same species. Later, I hope someone investigates the difference in reacting to and overcoming the stresses of trauma, depression, and other problems which occur more prevalently in one sex than the other.
Note: The methods of teaching boys and girls should be different because their brain is so much different. Instead, we take naturally active little boys, pump them full of mind altering drugs and expect them to learn like girls. But that is a different subject. For this paper, we are trying to figure out how to handle things like PTSD.
By the way, symptoms of heart attack is also different from men and woman. A woman expecting to experience the symptoms she has been taught for a man will often times die before the man’s symptoms appear in her.
Symptoms of heart attack.
A woman might have a backache, indigestion, her jaw might ache. If she waits for a man’s symptoms of a heart attack, she could die first. Men and woman are simply built differently.
Diet
We saw earlier that a woman is driven by Oxytocin, Serotonin, Estrogen and Progesterone. A man however, is driven by Testosterone, Vasopressin and Serotonin. Since men and women are so fundamentally different in their makeup, I wonder if their diet should be different.
Let’s take a look. Here is some of what I found.
The University of Minnesota notes that foods naturally boosting estrogen include apples, alfalfa, barley, baker’s yeast, beets, cherries, chickpeas, carrots, celery, cucumbers, dates, fennel, oats, olives and olive oil, papaya, peas, plums, pomegranates, potatoes, beans, rhubarb, rice, tomatoes, wheat and yams.
Foods that increase serotonin are asparagus, avocado, pecans, pineapple, eggplant, spinach, walnuts, oats, and coffee (if you use it sensibly).
Exercise is one way to increase your body’s production of serotonin. Not only does exercise increase the amount of serotonin released into your brain, but it also increases the amount of tryptophan in your brain, the amino acid that is the precursor of serotonin.
Progesterone: black beans, spinach, raw plantain, halibut, whole grain cereals, pumpkin and squash seeds, okra, and nuts. Stress can considerably reduce progesterone levels in the body.
Oxytocin can be released by touch and warmth, certain odors, fragrances, sounds and light. Positive interaction involving touch and psychological support may be health-promoting. Social interaction of daily life and a positive environment, continuously activate this system. Transfer of support, warmth and empathy induce similar effects.
Foods that increase Testosterone include Nuts and Legumes. These foods contain high levels of D-aspartic acid, promoting the production of testosterone. Soybeans, lentils, almonds, salmon, beef and eggs are all great sources of this compound.
Vasopressin is an antidiuretic hormone reducing the quantity of urine produced during sleep. Older individuals secrete less vasopressin, and tend to wake up more often to urinate. REM sleep, theta-waves, and vasopressin are related to each other. Despite vasopressin’s chemical structure being similar to Oxytocin, their actions are mostly directly opposite of each other…
Testosterone and almost any activity releases acetylcholine, dopamine and yohimbine/nicotine. These greatly increase Vasopressin levels and activity in the body.
Use of opiates, and alcohol (chronically) greatly DECREASES Vasopressin levels.
Note: Not all of ones diet goes into the production of these chemicals.
Another look at Maslow