Vive la difference

Men and women will always differ.

While there is movement towards equality between men and women in certain areas, men and women will always be different so long as there is sexual reproduction.

Physically, men and women remain quite different: men are taller on average and their physiology means that they are able to bring more strength to bear more quickly. Men have thicker and tougher skin and their narrow hips mean they can run more efficiently. Women's physiology is oriented towards the childbirth requirement, but none of these factors, except the hip dimensions necessarily exclude them from that. It should be possible for women to be as tough as men and still be able to bear children. The reason they are not is probably social: getting pregnant makes women vulnerable and dependent, and nurturing children requires qualities of softness and caring, which are in stark contrast to the qualities required to eke an existence out of the physical environment. Women and men consequently have became separated between nurturing and working roles and women became dependent on and subordinate to men.

With 20th century social changes, lower mortality and accelerating overpopulation, this traditional separation has been challenged. Women have entered into men's roles in droves, have sought education, career, younger spouses, and all the social benefits previously only pursued by men. While not so enthusiastically, at the same time, men have started to play a greater role in child rearing and it is now socially unacceptable for the average bloke to not change nappies and babysit.

With all these changes has come the natural fear that we risk reducing or alas, even eliminating 'la difference'. But there are many qualities that still separate men from women. It has become necessary for women to enter the world of work, not only economically, but because childbirth and rearing is not the full time chore it used to be. In our more integrated society, the responsibility of child rearing is now shared with the state. The kind of work that women enter into is still very characteristic of their qualities. University statistics suggest that female graduates in medicine and law outnumber males. These careers characterize their nurturing and social/vocal characteristics. Men still dominate in engineering, computing and trades, areas which characterize manual/intellectual dexterity and inventiveness. Men remain the main innovators and leaders in technology and most areas of social progress and there is little sign of that changing.

In general males are more dynamic and more prepared to take risks. Having a tough outer skin and physical strength helps with that: knowing that you can physically defend yourself from all comers. Women on the other hand go out in the world in the knowledge that they are physically weaker than some half of the people on the planet, something which is not helpful when it comes to taking risks. In addition, unlike with men, any sexual encounters could lead to the woman undergoing massive physiological change and becoming temporarily weak and dependent. The psychological effect of these and more factors contributes to women tending to take safe options in life.

Social pressure is bound to help retain 'la difference'.  Babies and small children will always have softer skin and it is convenient to have the soft-skinned gender for them to cuddle up to.  In addition sexual excitement and the multple enticements necessary to begin the arduous task of bearing offspring benefit greatly from 'la difference' with women playing a larger role as sex objects than men, indulging in fashion, makeup and other adornments.

While men and women make small adjustments to adjust to social change, underlying differences remain, differences we can only celebrate.  Vive!