Have you enjoyed reading about the differences in men and women?
This is a ten question survey designed to highlight the differences between genders and report what men and women report about themselves. This is also a test of how accurate the research in this blog corresponds to reality.
Visit the survey here to offer your own response!
German physician and hygenist Gustav Jager, was the first to come up with the concept of human pheromones. He identified them as lipophilic compounds that are associated with skin and follicles that determine the individual signature of human odors.
There had been much research on pheromones but the best known one was done by Martha McClintock in 1971. She published a study showing that the menstrual periods of women who lived together tended to converge on the same time every month, an effect thought to be mediated by pheromones.
When McClintock first began studying menstrual synchrony in the 1970s, data addressing how one woman could affect the hormonal cycle of another was nonexistent. There were hints that the pheromones in question were associated with underarm secretions, but it took until 1998 for McClintock to show that fluids collected from a donor woman’s underarms, when applied to the upper lip of a female recipient, could hasten or delay the recipient’s menstrual period. The study was unable to identify the exact chemicals responsible but implies the possiblity of pheromones in humans.
There has been much debate over whether pheromones affect human behavior, however some reaserch has been able to point to some of the effects pheromones have on human beings. In 1999, Noam Sobel, PhD, and his colleagues at Stanford University used functional magnetic resonance imaging to show that the human brain responded to androstadienone even when subjects were unable to smell it. This was later confirmed in another study. In another study in 2001, Ivanka Savic, PhD, and her colleagues at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden reported that androstadienone and estratetraenol affected men and women’s brains differently. Androstadienone boosted hypothalamic activity only in women, while estratetraenol increased hypothalamic activity only in men. However, it is still unclear how the presence of pheromones is communicated to the brain.
Benson, Etienne. "Pheromones, in Context." American Psychological Association (APA). Web. 06 May 2011. <http://www.apa.org/monitor/oct02/pheromones.aspx>.
Have you ever wondered why men aren’t able to express their emotions like women do? The explanation for this lies in the brain. The connection between the logic side (located on the right side of the brain) and the emotional side (located on the left side) for men aren’t connected as closely as womens brain are so they don’t have that immediate access to their feelings.
Ever had those days when you were really stressed and the smallest problems would irritate you? Well women have a hormone called oxytocin that motivates them to make and preserve connections with other people. When under stress this level of hormone is high.
“Women also have more gray matters in the frontal cortex of their brain, which lies behind the eyes. This is the center of the brain and controls their complex behavior, because women have more connection between the two sides of their brain and they are able to process multiple information at the same time.” (Legato 109)
Legato, Marianne J. Why Men Never Remember and Women Never Forget. Holtzbrinck, 2005. Print.
In studies it has been shown that men tend to do better in math than do women. Why is this? What makes men better able to comprehend math? Well, it does go back to the previous blog posts that men tend to be better systemizers and like everything to have a formula so they may have control of the situation. Men also tend to have a larger inferior parietal louble on the left side of the brain, which studies have shown that a larger IPL to the left contributes to better results in math. (Sabbatini) For example, Einstein’s IPL to the left was abnormally large. Women, on the other hand, have a much larger IPL to the right side of their brain which correlates to them being able to better pick up on the emotions surrounding them, such as a baby crying or a friend that is hurting.
Sabbatini, Renato M.E. "Are There Differences between the Brains of Males and Females?" "Brain & Mind" Magazine - WWW Home Page. Brain and Mind, 1997. Web. 29 Apr. 2011.
Men and Women react differently to the same disorder. For example because women are more emotional than men its not unusual that when it comes to depression (which is said to be the second leading cause of global disability) is most commonly seen in women.”Men on the otherhand are more than three times more likely to be diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder than women.”
"WHO | Gender and Women's Mental Health." Gender and Women's Mental Health. World Health Organization, 2011. Web. 05 May 2011. <http://www.who.int/mental_health/prevention/genderwomen/en/>.
There are many disconnects when it comes to communication between men and women. Therefore, it should be no surprise to find that they process and store information differently.
Men store relevant information together under certain categories that are entirely separate from other information, similar to a filing cabinet or a closet full of boxes (Farrell 21). They take out the relevant box for the conversation at hand and focus their attention only on its contents. Communication involves primarily what is in the box, making it difficult for men to remember of discuss information that does not relate to the topic at hand. This compartmentalizing also includes certain “empty” boxes, which make it possible for a man to relax and think of nothing (Lin).
Women, in the meantime, tend to think in webs or wires. Facts relating to each other connect even between separate subjects (Lin). This way of thinking makes it easy for them to relate facts with others and see their underlying connections, but it also makes focus on a single subject difficult. In conversation they easily breach subjects and end on topics entirely different from the initial topic. However, their minds are constantly active- it is mentally impossible for a woman to be thinking of nothing.
When communicating, a woman moves through the connections of her web while a man pulls out his box involving on the subject at hand. Both systems are efficient and have their good qualities. Keeping the differences between the two in mind can help bridge the confusion in communicating and make it easier to connect with the opposite gender.
Lin. Why Are Women So Strange and Men So Weird? Telling It Like It Is. 21 January 2008. Web. 29 April 2011. Farrel, Bill and Pam Farrel. Men Are Like Waffles and Women Are Like Spaghetti: Understanding and Delighting in Your Differences. LifeWay Press: Nashville, 1991. Print.
Men and women respond differently to pain. Recent research indicates that the way the nervous systems of men and women process and react to pain appears to be the key.
As you know women express their emotion easier than men do, so its not a suprise that men are more unwilling than women to report pain, and women seek medical advices more often. (SFN)
Studies have shown that women are more sensitive to pain as well as threats. This leads them to experience depression and anxiety, which is seen as the most intensive pain one can recieve. In men they are shown to be prone to hostility, report high levels of experimental pain, and end up showing negative emotions. Overall they show a more severe chronic pain than women.
"Society for Neuroscience - Gender and Pain." Society for Neuroscience. Society for Neuroscience, May 2004. Web. 02 May 2011.
Pheromones are a naturally occurring chemical compound found in humans. When pheromones are secreted they dictate sexual behavior and attract the opposite sex.
Pheromones are natural scents, which play an important role in sexual communication. Humans release mass amounts of biological chemicals in tears, saliva and perspiration. These aromas convey signals relating to mood, status, drive and health to the subconscious awareness of the female. The dominant male will exude more of these biological attractants than his counterpart. That is why he attracts more females and enjoys more conquests.
Researchers have recently discovered that pheromones play a major role in the lives of humans. These chemicals are found in human sweat.
Anonymous. "What Are Pheromones?" n.d. Web. <http://cas.bellarmine.edu/tietjen/Human%20Nature%20S%201999/what_are_pheromones.htm>.
“This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”
Men and women have always been suited for one another. Their equal status and common origin make them perfect mates, as they are designed to be partners. Besides the point that men and women are physically created for one another, perhaps the best proof of this is their alternating roles and separate approaches to solving the same problems. The skills of males and females are noticeably different because certain approaches are more suited to their physical makeup and their mental facilities (Baron-Cohen).
Baron-Cohen, Simon. The Essential Difference: The Truth about the Male and Female Brain. United States: Basic, 2003. Print. Brizendine, Louann. The Female Brain. New York: Morgan Read, 2006. Print. Brizendine, Louann. The Male Brain. New York: Broadway, 2010. Print.
As this picture shows, the men’s brain when reading is really only active on the left hemisphere of the brain, while the female brain when reading is active on both sides of the brain. What does this mean for men and women’s interactions? It means that males tend to be really good systematizer. Men usually prefer order and have control over a situation, so they tend to be better at math, physics, and engineering because those usually have order. (Edmonds) In any of the above subjects, you can change variable A and Variable C will be affected in such a way. There is a system, something you can control. This can be a good thing because it allows men to focus and catch the details as well as have very good reasoning skills, but it can be a bad thing because men can want to dominate over something and control every single aspect. Women using both sides of their brains however allows them to be empathizers, but it also grants another aspect, women tend to solve problems that may emerge in any of the above scientific fields more creatively, but they may have more trouble seeing the basic common sense problems that may emerge. (Edmonds) Women may also have a danger of getting caught up in their work and their emotions, feeling trapped and unable to control a situation.
Edmonds, Molly. "Discovery Health "Male and Female Brain Structure"" Discovery Health "Health Guides" Discovery Health, 2011. Web. 20 April 2011. <http://health.howstuffworks.com/human-body/systems/nervous-system/men-women-different-brains1.htm>.
Understanding Differences 