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Fresh off the heels of a list that really pissed me off of reasons guys should date a crazy woman comes another—and far more palatable—list. This one, from Cracked, explores six gender stereotypes that are evidently true(ish) and includes the scientific reasoning behind them.
#6. Women can’t drive and park for shit.
At first, I took offense to this (I think I’m a pretty good driver), but the article is talking more about women actually being willing to stop and ask for getting directions in terms of “Bear right toward Starbucks” whereas men think they have a compass in their heads. Since I still get lost in my hometown (which isn’t that big), I’m not going to argue this one.
Scientists think that testosterone helped early men find their way home again after a long day of hunting, ensuring that they were the ones impregnating their mates and continuing their line while the spatially challenged became saber tooth tiger snacks.
By age four, boys were already surpassing the girls in spatial ability by a ratio of 4:1. While girls did just fine at seeing two dimensions in the brain, boys had the ability to see a third dimension, allowing them to understand the concept of depth at an earlier age.
#5. Men are freaking slobs.
Uh … yeah. And that’s all I have to say about that.
Locked in that sweaty stench are chemical markers that can tell a gal when a fella is sexually aroused, even without her knowing it. Plus a woman’s superhuman sense of smell is at its peak just as she’s ovulating. Forget Ax body spray. If you want to get laid, you need to smell like you’ve been watching porn in a sauna.
#4. Women are wimps.
Haha, I love this … “I have less GIRK2” is going to be my new excuse for everything!
Researchers believe it might be tied to the presence of GIRK2, a nifty little protein that not only affects pain threshold, but how well morphine and other painkillers work to block the pain once it’s been inflicted. The next time you tell your girlfriend to walk off that cramp she got trying page 46 of the Kama Sutra with you, try to show a little compassion, she may just have less GIRK2 than you.
#3. Women love to talk (and talk)
Uh … I’m not arguing this one either.
The areas of the brain responsible for language are over 17 percent larger in women than men. Women’s brains also multi-task; processing language in both hemispheres while men generally keep the conversation going with just the dominant side of the brain.
The corpus callosum in a woman’s brain is reportedly larger too, meaning that women transfer data from one brain hemisphere to the other with high speed fiber optics, while the men’s brains are still on dial up.
#2. Women see mauve, men see purple.
Mmhmm. My ex-husband wore khakis every single day because he’d long ago given up on trying to figure matching out.
The gene for seeing red is only carried by the X chromosome, which puts men at a serious disadvantage for seeing the color spectrum. Color, after all, is defined by our ability to perceive red, green and blue, and every other color we see is based on combinations of those three.
While the men were out killing dinner and developing that radical spatial perception of theirs, women were gathering fruit and vegetables for the salad course. Having the ability to distinguish between the shiny red berries that taste good and the shiny red berries that can kill you was an important survival skill, and the women who didn’t pick the death berries lived to pass on their genes.
#1. Women are lightweights
I’m fighting this one. This is probably not a popular opinion, but I think that so much of how alcohol impacts you depends on what you’re drinking, the mood you’re in, how tired you are, and the people you’re with. I literally threw up all over a bar top once (I’m still sorry for that one, Brian … and thanks again for cleaning it up so the bartender didn’t beat me), but I’ve also ridden the Red-Bull-and-Vodka train all night, unquestionably consuming more alcohol without feeling it.
According to researchers, the real reason why women can’t hold their liquor as well as men is because men and women have very different water to fat ratios to their bodies. Men’s bodies are made up of about 61 percent water, whereas women average about 52 percent. While this doesn’t sound all that important, it basically means that male biology acts like a cheating bastard of a bartender, watering down every drink a guy consumes nearly 10 percent more than a woman’s internal barkeep.
Much as I hate to admit it, many of these stereotypes are both true, judging from my own personal experiences and science. So what do you think?
Thanks to commenter Harriet Meadow for the tip.
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It’s all a little tricky. One shouldn’t stereotype and I would love to get to a point where people don’t think about false gender differences at all (like what qualifies as women’s work), but it’s true that we’re built differently and evolved in different ways.
However, on that note, each PERSON is different. So while men and women can tend to lean certain ways, it doesn’t mean I don’t know men who can’t shut up and women who can drink all night and then go to work at 7 am refreshed.
I agree on that. It’s okay to say most woman are propably a bit more of something than men as long as you don’t treat people according to that thought. Because there are enough people out there who don’t fit that stereotype.
I loved this article because these stereotypes, for the most part, fit me. I CAN “drive and park for shit,” but I also get lost in my hometown, and I absolutely CANNOT do N/S/E/W directions, but have to go by landmarks or “left” and “right.” I definitely have a better sense of smell than my husband (which, oddly, is the point of the “men are slobs” section), am “wimpier” than my husband, talk more (and I am more adept at learning languages), am more discerning about colors, and I get drunk after half a glass of wine (which is why I rarely drink). So this article was an entertaining look into why these things might be the case. Of COURSE it’s not going to apply to everyone (stereotypes rarely do), but it certainly applied to me!
I pretty much agree with all things said, both in the article and in the commentary.
I thought red, YELLOW, and blue were the primary colors? Or am I just having a brain fart over here?
Red, blue and yellow are the primary colours in art, where paint is mixed together to create various other colours. Scientifically, these are called the secondary colours.
However in visual sight, red, blue and green are the primary colours. You will note that your television (and computer screen) will use these primary colours to compose an image. These are the colours that the receptors in your eye react to.
And that is your mini science lesson of the day!
I love Cracked.com. I always learn things whilst laughing.
The stereotypes make sense, though. I don’t mind people acknowledging stereotypes as long as they aren’t adhered to rigidly. It’s certainly valid to compare physiological differences between men and women.
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