The difference between men and women.

[rainman]

Notice that the posts disagreeing with me are by men who bring it all down to sex and their "right" to "screw" any female they can conquer..?

Not true. I disagree with you on several things and don't agree with the statement above.

If we are equal, why are men bigger, stronger, tougher when they don't need to be?

I know, I sound like a 4 year old - they are always asking "Why?", but isn't that how scientific discoveries are made? Why? How? Who? I seek to stimulate the mind rather than merely accepting what is just because it is. If we can answer why things are as they are, won't we really find a lot more?

We aren't equal. The reasons why (gained after a fair bit of study of evolution and related disciplines) are given in the posts above. Asking "Why?" is indeed great for scientific discovery, but you have to be open to consider the answer, too!

Another good scientific question is "OK, how could I break that?"

Let's look at some of the science.....

I'm confused, none of that significantly contradicts the science given earlier in the thread.

There's a lot that could be said about this topic, but the basics are just that - simple. The differences between men and women largely come down to the established roles they used to play in earlier times...
Men used to hunt, wage war and protect against those seeking to do the same.
Women used to forage, keep the household /cave, whatever/ and give birth and raise the kids.
Hence men are stronger, faster, physically tougher, have better spatial orientation, can hear certain sounds better than women etc...
Women are more sensitive to certain parts of the visible light spectrum (red - berries), can hear certain other sounds better (crying babies) and arguably have better social skills (empathy etc..)

The interesting part for me personally is, how these predetermined traits and "modes of operation" often don't serve us well in modern society. And how, among other things, we are selectively breeding out the traits that are really important for the long term survival of society. But that is almost another whole new topic.

Yup, you're on to it. Our modern life and diet is not what we evolved to suit, and we have changed too much too quickly. But we are today what we evolved to be back then. Easy.

How confusing to be human...how about forget the intricacies of the human make-up and enjoy living. Make the most of every day and every opportunity you are presented with, if it doesn't go the way you would like then,move on.

Absolutely, we're a weird lot. I like your advice, which I'd state as "be fully present, here and now", but introspection can be fun too. An unexamined life is not worth living.

[mashman]

isn't it all to do with the body's chemistry and it's genetics? Chromosomes, hormonal balances (and vice verse) and mental pathways going a huge way to determining what and who we are as well as how we think and act... try living with a woman who's just go onto the contraceptive injection, that 3 month thing... the chemicals and hormones, in general, seem to drive mood (this is ONLY MY observation)... the way we fuel ourselves also seems to be a mood changer, what we eat, what we drink etc... The dominance seems to be societal, inherited from the monkeys, but that's changed over the last 100 years or so with women being given the right to vote/express themselves without the cencures of the male dominated hierarchy...

[SS90]

some of us actually have been taken for a right royal ride by the male species.

Face it, we're all the same but we're all different.



(or ride your bike)

Actually, yes, I must admit, It would have been correct to say that Women are not alone in this behaviour, but, in truth, they are better at hiding it than men.

If any one is wondering, I'm not airing some deep emotional scars on this, just writing observations and experiences.

If any one is interested, such behaviour is more prevalent in Europe than anywhere else in my experience.

It is really sad, back in NZ I have a good friend that is "whipped" by every girlfriend (one is now his wife), who treats him like property, and for years I wondered why (If it wasn't so sad, it would be funny actually), and the best I can come up with is that he let's it happen to himself, (every girl for the 20 odd years I have known him) and the natural instinct of humans takes over (get an inch, take a mile)......

In NZ, since we have agencies specifically set up to stop "Male on Female violence", we are constantly bombarded with "examples of male violence", but you never hear about the other way round (not so much physical, but mental abuse is really common)....about 15 years ago when I was still in my apprenticeship, I was required to deliver a new motorcycle to an address in Christchurch.

It was a nice big house in a pretty good suburb, I knocked on the door, and the meakest man you will ever see in your life opened the door, the person to contact was a woman, and I was led in through a nice, clean house, to a room with 5 more men, with similar demeanour, and then upstairs to a really friendly woman, who I delivered the keys and explained the bike.

Curiosity got the better of me, and I asked what this place was (she wouldn't tell me), and I eventually, years later found out that it was actually a "men refuge" type set up where men who have been physically, emotionally and financially abused by their female partners come to live.

These guy where pitiful, and I sometimes still feel sadness for these demasculated guys.

Someone said to me that some women treat some men like that, because they where abused by men when they where young girls, and "take it out" on men in later life.

Two wrongs make a right?

[Genie]

oh dear....

[Forest]

Why pay for a cow when you can get the milk for free?

I've been in long-term relationships in the past, but I have no desire to ever do so again. My life has become inestimably better as a result.

[Edbear]

Why pay for a cow when you can get the milk for free?

I've been in long-term relationships in the past, but I have no desire to ever do so again. My life has become inestimably better as a result.

You're very young, right...?

[kit]

I'd disagree that woman are emotionally weaker...... more men committ suicide than woman, most of the time because of an inabitity to cope with the reality of something that has happened in their life.

[imdying]

Brutal reality but a fair point.

[Edbear]

I'd disagree that woman are emotionally weaker...... more men committ suicide than woman, most of the time because of an inabitity to cope with the reality of something that has happened in their life.

This is a modern problem and suicide by the sexes is that more men commit suicide, but more women attempt it. Women attempt it usually, but not always, as a cry for help, men do it because they intend to kill themselves. Depression is a complex study and I have had extensive experience and study in this field.

My OP was more to so with the "Why?" than the "what" of the differences between men and women. The fact that men ans women are so different is clear, but what is behind the differences is the question.

[kit]

Not all people whom committ suicide suffer from clinical depression, a lot of it is circumstancial. Take the person out of the circumstance and the persons attitude to life changes...

Why the difference between men and woman? Maybe you should have been an anthropologist.

[Edbear]

Not all people whom committ suicide suffer from clinical depression, a lot of it is circumstancial. Take the person out of the circumstance and the persons attitude to life changes...

Why the difference between men and woman? Maybe you should have been an anthropologist.

With teenagers particularly, you will often if not always, find that when their "whole life is ruined" and they "just want to die!", there will be one particular issue that they cannot deal with and if you help fix that, their "whole life" is much better and they are happy again.

Suicide is linked to depression as it requires the typical thought processes from depression. Many women threaten suicide, but are not clinically depressed, as a cry for help and understanding and an alert person can usually tell the difference. Consolation and care works in these cases, whereas depression leading to suicide is very hard to deal with and requires professional help.

I am interested in anthropology and I have spent years studying life. My purpose in posting the thread is to provoke thought and find out how others view life and in particular human life. We spend much of our lives simply going through the motions and with our minds and eyes closed, thereby missing out on much richness and awe in wonder at how life on Earth functions. Our relationships are constrained and lack the fulfillment they could otherwise enjoy by literally stopping to smell the flowers. When was the last time you bent down to smell a rose, paused to follow the flight of a bee, lay on your back in the grass and gazed up at the stars? By losing our childish perspectives and ceasing to ask "Why?", we miss much of the joy of life and living.

When did you last sit down with your wife, husband, mother, father, brother or sister and really listen to them? Hear their story?

[kit]

Many men also use suicide as a form of emotional blackmail.....I have first hand experience at it....my eyes aren't closed. There are a lot of interesting people in the world with a lot of knowlege to contribute, and impart, but i think that experiencing life and learning through experience is the best teacher. You will find like minded people attract like minded people...or maybe there are lessons to be learned so you attract the people that teach them to you, and you evolve as a person individually.

[Banditbandit]

When did you last sit down with your wife, husband, mother, father, brother or sister and really listen to them? Hear their story?

Tried that once. I went to sleep. When I woke up she hit me with the pan and I had a black eye for ages ... hurt when I tried to pull on my helmet ...

[Banditbandit]

These two pixs sum up, for me, the essential difference between men and woman ...

[Edbear]

Many men also use suicide as a form of emotional blackmail.....I have first hand experience at it....my eyes aren't closed. There are a lot of interesting people in the world with a lot of knowlege to contribute, and impart, but i think that experiencing life and learning through experience is the best teacher. You will find like minded people attract like minded people...or maybe there are lessons to be learned so you attract the people that teach them to you, and you evolve as a person individually.

You're not wrong, of course. Both sexes can use EB very effectively. My wife uses it when she wants to play on my laptop because hers won't play a particular game she likes... I can feel the vibes from her and I know my time is up...

Seriously though, men are particularly skilled at EB as evidenced by the number of women who remain in abusive relationships and go back again and again to the monster. Such women need a lot of help and support to break free where they can come to realise the power they were under.

Tried that once. I went to sleep. When I woke up she hit me with the pan and I had a black eye for ages ... hurt when I tried to pull on my helmet ...

LOL!!! Done that once. I started snoring... She has forgiven me...