General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: "Man-bashing." My favorite DU pule. [View all]happyslug
(14,779 posts)Last edited Tue Jan 8, 2013, 11:27 PM - Edit history (1)
Study after Study have shown that women do as well as men in math till puberty. At Puberty, when it is permitted, women drop behind men for about two years and stay two years behind them.
Now, where adolescent girls are NOT permitted to drop behind boys in math, then no difference occurs.
Thus, Math is an area where you can have equal treatment provided people watch for adolescent girls who falls into the trap of being afraid of being smarter then boys (i.e. we have to give the girls additional support during that period in their lives).
It is one of the reason I separated physical difference from mental differences. Physical difference can be clearly defined and seen, mental difference are often related to physical differences (women often do mental acts differently then men, due to the fact due to men and women's physical differences lead them to think in different ways). Best shown in a show I once saw, that had a man and a woman climb the same cliff. This required not only physical ability, but mental work in deciding how to climb the cliff one step at a time. The man tended to depend on his physical strength to climb the cliff, the woman tended to look for toe-holes, finger holes and other ways to climb up the cliff. Both arrived at the top of the cliff about the same time, but HOW they did it was completely different. The how was the mental outlook, but it was governed by their physical difference.
Another area of differences is riding a bicycle. Men's center of gravity is in the middle of his chest, thus when he leans over and grab the handlebars, he ends up with his center of gravity right over the center of the bicycle, which permits him to be one with the bicycle.
Women's center of gravity, when riding an upright bicycle, ends up being behind the seat and up in the air if they assume the position male bike racers assume (Muscle weigh four times the equivalent volume of fat and the single largest muscle in the Human Body is the Muscle to give birth, thus why woman are bottom heavy when compared to men). Can women ride like men? Yes. Is that they best position? Given that recumbents are banned in bike racing, Yes. If recumbents were not banned? Then a Recumbent would be a much better bike for women to race in, even with a recumbent's weakness at climbing hills compared to upright bikes (but Recumbents are superior on the flats and going downhill).
In the class room, the physical differences between the sexes is minor, in offices it is minor, but working outdoors it is a major factor, working with others doing a physical act it is a factor (Nursing for example).
Yes, today we do a lot of work inside offices, but we still have a lot of jobs, even inside, that require physical AND mental work. Physical and Mental abilities work together to do what is required. Thus we can NOT always ignore the differences between the sexes, and we will always have to debate if how we treat them is fair, but true equal treatment can also lead to unfairness, and generally that is at the cost of unfairness to women not men.