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Men and Women, Opposite or Not? Why do some fathers still have that masculine belief of their daughters being incapable of achieving what a son would do? As my father’s only daughter, I had to deal with his constant criticism all throughout most of grade school; reminding me of his wish about wanting a son instead of a daughter and how I’ll never succeed in life because girls aren’t capable of much as compared to boys. I couldVe let his words underestimate me, but instead I proved to him that I was capable of succeeding in life by taking on the full plate of both pink and blue.
Graduating high school with honors and getting accepted into a four year university was Just the first step of my goal to prove to him that girls can maintain a role latitude and succeed in life; I still plan on achieving more to eventually make him leave that wish behind of wanting a son in his life in replacement of a daughter. Society often places men and women on completely different levels which result in beliefs that make it seem as if the two genders are entirely opposite, nevertheless, this paper will discuss how using the term “opposite” is negatively affecting the truth between the two sexes.
We are given gender scripts and placed on a dual track since the moment of birth, the newborn wrapped in a blue blanket is emphasized to be a male and the newborn wrapped in a pink is emphasized to be a female. A typical male, which is the blue side of the dual track, is expected to be masculine, aggressive, dominant, strong, the head of the household, and overall successful in life; whereas a typical female, being the pink side of the dual track, is expected to be feminine, sensitive, nurturing, sensitive, dependent, and the one that stays home to take care of the kids.
Our gender is ntensified three times during our lives; the first time is when one is placed on either the blue or pink side of the dual track, the emphasis of which track one belongs to is based on our genitalia. The second time is through adolescence, during this time one is going through puberty and is in search for his or her identity leading to once again basing on one’s genitalia, clarifying whether you are a female or a male.
The third time is when a couple is going through a pregnancy, gender scripts are clear indicating that the female will be giving birth to the child so is expected to stay home, hile the male is expected to provide in all ways and protect the female and the upcoming baby. Such expectations lead to why men and women are considered as the “opposite” sex, meaning that these two genders have no overlap and are not at all alike. It is understandable why men and women are oftentimes considered opposite because our society has placed strict meanings on what men are expected to do and what women are expected to do.
Though such term describing both genders is severely negative because men and women are not completely opposite, there are differences but similarities between the two gender exists much likely as well. An appropriate term to describe men and women would be to refer to them as the “other” sex, where such word has no strict expectations emphasizing polarity between the two genders. If a person decides to stay on the dual track he or she was placed on at birth, then their characteristics will only achieve the half plate and only the blue track or express their behavior highlighting only the pink track.
Sticking to the dual track as a standard to live by can lead to an identity becoming foreclosed; you are left without a choice and have to go through life guessing because viewing he world through Just one perspective can lead to a bias personality. As a person grows up, he or she will either stay on the track they were placed on when they were born or they will evolve into having an androgynous character. Androgyny means having behavior characteristics that are both masculine and feminine, meaning that instead of placing emphasis on being pink or being blue, there is an intertwining of both and the emphasis is place on being purple.
A person who has a strong personality can have a sensitive side to them as well, and a person who has an motional personality can have a brave side to them as well. With an androgynous character, one manages to maintain role latitude between having pink and blue characteristics as they balance them and keep them constantly overlapped. When there are too many roles at one time for an individual or roles are often changing and too many new roles are developing at once, the androgynous level exceeds resulting in a role overload.
Having an androgynous character is beneficial because it leads to an identity achieved with the full plate of pink and blue; there is also a broader range f choices and opportunities. There are ten domains used to clarify whether men and women are opposite; when it comes to the physical structure domain, oftentimes we believe that due to a difference in certain body parts such as the genitalia the two genders are opposite, though that is not the case. In the brain structure domain, though men and women have different amounts of matter in their brain size, similarities still exist.
The physiological domain explains how although only women have the function of getting pregnant, similarities between female and male organisms exist as well. In the biochemical domain, the difference in chromosomes between men and female display similarities due to the fact their chromosome share traits. The hormonal domain explains how males produce testosterone and females produce estrogen; though each gender actually produces both testosterone and estrogen, Just at different levels.
In the psychological domain, we can examine how although there are differences in the way men and women communicate; there is an overlap between the ways they communicate as well. The behavioral domain can help examine the differences in how males and females react to certain situations, as ell as in what situations both genders behave the same. In the sociological domain, men and women may each express in different ways how he or she would interact with someone, as well as expressing similarities.
The emotional domain can help examine the sensitivity or aggression differences and similarities between the two genders. In the genetic domain, the fact that men have XX chromosomes and women have XY chromosomes would make it seem as if they were completely opposite, although one X chromosome of the male contains genetic material from the Y chromosome which proves the contrary. Though there are differences in the metabolic domain between men and women, with the adequate amount of exercise both genders would be able to lose weight.
This paper will examine only four of the ten domains mentioned; I chose the brain structure domain because our cognitive development is what results in us behaving certain ways. The emotional domain well from expressing their emotions. I chose the behavioral domain because I want to discover information about how men and women behaved similarly when it came to certain issues. The sociological domain interested me because as a female, I would ike to learn more about how males interact with other individuals.
This paper will review six articles that will examine the four domains and help answer the big question whether men and women are opposite or not. The article I examined for the brain structure domain is called, Her versus his migraine: Multiple sex differences in brain function and structure by Nasim Maleki, Clas Linnman, Jennifer Brawn, Rami Burstein, Lino Becerra, and David Borsook. Their main question to be examined was whether men and women’s brain systems were affected differently when having a migraine.
A total of 44 men and women divided equally were used for the study; with 22 of the men and women being migraine patients, leaving the other 22 being healthy patients. They performed quantitative heat sensory testing and noxious thermal simulations on the patients to examine whether the men and women were opposite in the effects of a migraine. The results proved that female migraine patients had a thicker posterior insula as compared to male migraine patients and healthy patients of both genders, which result in a stronger migraine.
However, both female and male migraine patients had common ctivation in the contra-lateral anterior insula, which also result in higher pain activation to when having a migraine. Although there are differences in the migraines of a men and women, there are still similarities, hence, not opposite. For the emotional domain, the article I examined is called, Gender differences in emotion expression in children: A meta-analytic review by Tara M. Chaplin and Amelia Aldao.
Their particular interest of the subject was to determine whether there are gender differences in the emotional expression of children and adolescents. A meta-analytic review of gender differences and moderators of difference in emotion xpression; there was a total of 21,709 participants, varying from infants to adolescents. In the results, it proved that overall girls showed more positive emotions and internalizing emotions than boys, while boys showed more externalizing emotions than girls. However, during adolescence, fewer boys expressed externalizing emotions than girls, which show an overlap in the results.
There are gender differences in the emotional expression of children and adolescents, but there are similarities as well, which make males and females not opposite. Furthermore, another article I examined for the emotional domain is called, Driving nger and traffic violations: Gender differences by Beatriz Gonzalez-Iglesias, Jose Antonio Gomez-Fraguela, and W Angeles Luengo-Martin. The question examined in this article is whether age and gender affect the anger-related variables explaining traffic violations; the researchers conducted a survey on 541 drivers who were 53. % female, 46. 1% males and with an age range of 20-73 years. With the survey, they concluded that both genders expressed anger while driving, but in different situations, males expressed more anger towards policemen while females expressed more anger towards traffic obstruction. There was also a difference found in the results, females expressed a more adaptive attitude while men scored higher concerning disadaptive expression of anger such as verbal expression and use of the between both genders, though are still similarities, therefore, men and women are not opposite.
For the behavioral domain, I chose an article called, Sex Differences in Criminal Behavior: A Genetic Analysis by Danielle Boisvert, Jamie Vaske, John Paul Wright, and Valerie Knopik. Their main objective in this article is to examine was whether risk factors for criminal behavior differ for males and females. The first questionnaire surveyed 90,000 middle school students, followed by 20,745 youths that participated in an in-home interview, and 15, 170 returning participants who had taken the first interview decided to take the second in-home interview as well; also, 186 opposite sex twin pairs were added on to the testing.
The results revealed that the same genetic factors are influencing criminal behaviors in men and women and genetic effects on criminal behavior do not differentiate across the sexes. Though in other subjects of the behavior domain differences between both genders may exist, in this ase, there are only similarities, which make men and women not opposite. The article I examined for the sociological domain, is called, Gender differences in trust and trustworthiness: Individuals, single sex and mixed sex groups by Ananish Chaudhuri, Tirnud PaichayontviJit, and Lifeng Shen.
Their area of interest was to explore gender differences in trust and trustworthiness between male and female individuals and groups of the same sex to figure out if groups behave differently from individuals of the same sex. The experiment had a total of 286 participants; the first individual” treatment was conducted into four sessions with 82 participants divided into 41 pairs where one person in the group was a sender and the other was a receiver. The second “group” treatment was conducted in ten sessions with 204 participants divided into 102 groups where members played the roles of two person groups.
The results revealed that the all men or all female groups were more trusting towards each other than the male or female individuals. Also groups of either a single gender or mixed behaved similar to each other and there was no significant differences in trust or trustworthiness between men and women. There were barely ny differences in this subject of the sociological domain because there were primarily similarities revealed in the experiments, therefore, males and females are not opposite.
Furthermore, another article I chose for the sociological domain is called, Gender Differences in Gossip and Friendship by David C. Watson. The question examined in this article is whether there are gender differences in gossip and friendship; the study had a sample of 167 females and 69 males who were undergraduates from Western Canadian University. The participants were given two questionnaires, the Tendency to Gossip Questionnaire and the Friendship Questionnaire.
The results revealed that although both genders scored on the gossip scale, the gossip scale for males was based on friendship quality while the gossip scale that was most common for females was based on physical appearance. Although gender differences in gossip and friendship were revealed, similarities still exist, hence, males and females are not opposite. For the brain structure domain article, the studies came to a conclusion that although migraine patient females have a thicker section in their brain that are prone to strengthen migraines, however both migraine patient males and females igraine.
On the emotional domain articles, one discussed how there are gender differences and similarities in the emotion expression during infancy and adolescence. The other article revealed that both men and women express anger while driving though the levels of aggression depend on the situation. For the behavioral domain article, the studies proved that the same factors are influencing criminal behavior in men and women. On the sociological domain articles, the first one concluded that there weren’t any significant differences between the gender differences in trust and trustworthiness.
The second article revealed how on the gossip scale both genders scored but concerning different subjects. Cohorts of the past generations in our society emphasizing gender scripts have contributed into why men and women are referred to as “opposite”, though with the examination done in this paper it clear to see that the two genders have domains that are constantly overlapping. The term opposite harms us in our path towards maximizing human potential because it limits us from having a choice and a life filled with fulfillment.
Our great grandparents’ cohort, our grandparents’ cohort, and even ur parents’ cohort have all influenced our society in believing that gender roles are what we should all live by; though change is still at risk and an androgynous impact on our society can still occur. We become part of the dual track with no other choice when we are born and as times goes by we get reality checks clarifying whether we are pink or blue, female or male. Those reality checks intensity our gender from moment we are place on the track, during adolescence as we seek for an identity, and during a pregnancy where the man is expected to provide and protect.
Instead of nly achieving the half plate and an identity foreclosed, one can make the choice of breaking those limits and becoming androgynous. People become androgynous because opportunities are more at reach, with the full plate of pink and blue you can fulfill in life much more accepted. With an identity achieved and role latitude, you as a person become more compatible which can be beneficial when being in a relationship. It is much easier for women to become androgynous and have role latitude, although oftentimes, this leads to role overload as a women today have second shift at home after work.
Due to cultural acceptance, self-esteem, and stereotypes it is much more difficult for a man to become androgynous, though fortunately society is changing and becoming more respectful towards those men who are androgynous. An androgynous person can maximize the androgynous outcome by letting others know that we don’t have to go through life guessing and that the option of choice does exist. Personally, I do consider myself of having an androgynous character because even though I was placed on the pink side of the dual track, I am now balancing with the blue side by going to college.
In a partner, I ould find compatibility in an androgynous person because being with someone who is adaptable and understanding could lead into a strong, loyal relationship. From this assignment I learned what an androgynous person is and coincidently, I can relate to the term which on the long run helped me gain a better understanding of what it really meant. Examining several domains to help prove that men and women are not opposite also helped me discover similarities between the genders that I had no idea existed. Overall, with the capability of proving evidence to prove my point, I have a term.