[Opinion] Men and Women

We live in an age when such words as “sexual discrimination” and “gender equality” sound outdated. Men are labeled as old-fashioned, anti-feminist and anti-democratic once they say something about gender roles, apart from whether they are in fact sexual discriminators or not. Therefore, men take extra cautions not to use such words.

Feminists have made a point that men and women are no different – they are equally capable and have the same level of desire to succeed, dominate, and even the desire for sex.

The reality, however, betrays the politically correct assertion. For instance, boys do better in math and science classes than girls, and there are more male students who major such subjects in colleges. Feminists easily rebut, “Girls are compelled and choose not to study those subjects hard because people say doing well math and science is not womanlike.” They lament social prejudice and suppression, hoping that women will compete with men on a level playing ground someday.

Alas, recent studies on human brain, however, appear to dim their hope for a better future. So does social and biological knowledge. Most men do better than their opposite sex in the fields of engineering, computers, architecture and accounting where math and science play a key role, the studies noted, because their brains are more active on the right side. In contrast, women tend to develop the left side more for linguistic abilities, and their nerve fibers are well connected between the two sides of the brain. That is why women exactly understand situations even when they don’t have a special clue.

Here is another evidence to the difference between men and women. A team of researchers at Stony Brook State University of New York recently reported that the female brain has a better-organized cognitive part that perceives and keeps emotion, so a woman remembers the last time she quarreled with her husband better.

Men and women are different. Science continues to prove that they do not have the same abilities, desires and emotion. This does not mean the one is superior or inferior to the other. Let’s face it. There are differences and it’s not about discrimination. We will be able to be better ourselves by acknowledging and dealing with the fact. Let’s do what we can do better. But remember one thing. What counts most is every each individual, not his or her gender. We all have a universe within ourselves.

yuri@donga.com