The Gender Difference

Week Four:

Gender and Family Life

           This week I was really humbled and brought to some new realizations that changed my perspective and understanding on the human species.

           Most of my life, I have been taught that men and women are the same, other than some physical differences, we are all the same and should be treated as such. I have always been told that men and women need the same opportunities and should be respected in all points of life, but what I gained in mentality and support, I also lost a lot of fundamental truths that come along with understanding that men and women are actually very different, and that the differences are actually vital to all social structures whether  that’s the family unit, the social circle, or society as a whole. Understanding, respecting, and building upon these differences will inevitably improve the human family.

           So, what are some of these differences? Well to draw on this, I want to focus on a short study that I witnessed this week while reviewing study material. In this study, the interviewers met with and documented people and situations that could help draw on the facts that men and women were indeed different. In the beginning of the video, the narrator began by drawing on the differences between baby boys and baby girls. He stated that baby girls made faces that resembled their mothers and were more tender. Boys startled easier and moved more often. These may seem like small insignificant differences, but these grow later in life. As young children age, they begin acting in even more different ways than the other sex. Young girls for example usually spend time communicating and working together as they play. They also make eye contact more than boys and try to talk with others as they communicate. Boys on the other hand want to play side by side with each other and are constantly moving or making a game out of a situation. They wrestle and act out in many ways that may seem to be rough or aggressive, but they are really just playing. 

 These same differences can be further expanded as you may draw attention to the toys and games that the young kids often play with. Boys often were found making objects into weapons and fighting with one another, destruction and competition is that name of the game. Whereas girls enjoy ways to dress up and play roles with one other and play more constructively through communication. 

 Have you ever wondered if our toy industry would try to make children’s toys more fluid then maybe there would be less of a divide between the sexes? Maybe blending the pink and blue sides of the toy isle would help sort out many of the differences. The thing is, toy manufacturers have spent millions of dollars to market to the opposite sex, but with no avail. There are some ways that we are raised that are more innate and biological about our background then we may have originally thought. This is really contrary to what I have grown up believing. 

So, what about adults, is there a massive difference between the sexes in society? Does it complicate things further to consider the fact that women may make less than men for a reason other that sexism? What could help us overcome this dilemma of judgement and inequality that is posed by so many? 

In short terms, its means everything to understand the God given stoic nature of the sexes. To understand that men are naturally programmed to provide, protect, and preside and women can nurture, protect, and teach can help out with many of our modern issues. 

I hope that I and the world can reconsider our position on what it means to be men and women, and embrace our God given identities. I believe this will have long lasting beneficial benefits to all mankind.