Nature or culture?

**Sopie** · 17-01-11, 20:08

There is a funny thing happened many times while discussing with my friends here : "men in their nature are..." and "women in their nature are..." (I heard it too in Canada, but much more oftenly here).

Usually it goes like that :

- Friend : In their nature, women are more sensitive and shy than men. In their nature, men like to be leader, to be in the front.
- Me : French canadian women are not more sensitive and shy than men, and they also like to lead and be in the front. So I think this is not from the inherent women or men nature, but from the education patterns.
- Friend : ...

Or :

- Friend : In their nature, women like to take care of others' well-being while men are naturally selfish.
- Me : I'm a women and don't care about you and the rest of the world except my cat!
- Friend : ...

(ok, this one I never said it, i don't know how to say "I don't care" in Bahasa Indonesia).

Or (my favourite) :

- Me : Why it's socially acceptable here for a man to get more than one sexual partner in his life, and it is absolutly not for a woman to do the same?
- Friend : Because in their nature, men have high sexual needs and women, in their nature, don't much like sex.
- Me, thinking : (

don't answer this one, don't answer this one, keep the shut off...)

This is not about the differences about men and women.
This is about to know if those differences result from the way we educate little boys and little girls in a particular cultural context, or from some inherent nature we do get following our biological sex?

**kingwilly** · 17-01-11, 20:36

load of bollocks

**Kratos** · 17-01-11, 20:39

well, Men cant be sexually equal to women......we cant get pregnant, thats for sure..... Once women are at it, 9 months is such a long time to have a sexual break....

That could be where the stereotyped comes from....

**nickie** · 17-01-11, 20:42

Originally Posted by Kratos

well, Men cant be sexually equal to women......we cant get pregnant, thats for sure..... Once women are at it, 9 months is such a long time to have a sexual break....

Hah? Where did you get that from? Who said they had a break?

I'm with you Sopie, there is no such things as what you described

**Kratos** · 17-01-11, 20:48

Originally Posted by nickie

Hah? Where did you get that from? Who said they had a break?

Holy Cow....
They dont ? where do you hanging out at ????

**lone_ranger** · 17-01-11, 21:00

Sopie, I can highly recommend Jared Diamond's "Why is sex fun: the evolution of human sexuality" where he tries to answer some of your probing questions. For instance, among the many classes of primates, there is a correlation between testicle size and sexual promiscuity. And yes, you guess it, human males fall somewhere between chimpanzees and gorillas. His other book, "The Third Chimpanzee" is another good read. Be forewarned though, if you're a Creationist, then most of his books will leave a bitter taste in your mouth.

**Hombre de Maiz** · 17-01-11, 21:11

Nature or culture? A false dichotomy.

**Elithium** · 17-01-11, 21:29

Well, there are inherent differences between men and women. However, they are just generalizations. Men are stronger. Generally. Men are more competitive. Generally.

Some of the differences are kind of cool. Such as women being able to see more shades of colors than men.

Women have higher average IQ's. Men have more IQ variance. Women tend to think quicker and more accurately than men. Men tend to be notably better at spacial reasoning, mental math and abstract reasoning.

Ect. These are all just generalizations though and have no bearing on any particular individual. Men and women have far more similarities than differences and neither is "better" than the other.

As for nature vs nurture (as we always said it back home), it's not an either/or but a both situation. Nature and your environment combine to make people the way they are.

Your friend also could have debunked your rebuttal by simply pointing out that anecdotal evidence has no bearing on a generalization.

**kingwilly** · 17-01-11, 21:33

Originally Posted by lone_ranger

Be forewarned though, if you're a Creationist, then most of his books will leave a bitter taste in your mouth.

Be forewarned though, if you're a Creationist, then you're an idiot.

**Hombre de Maiz** · 17-01-11, 21:34

People can observe for themselves that women's and men's bodies are noticeably different. This, because of the different cocktail and sequencing of hormones starting from the moment of conception. Yet people can't seem to accept that, just as in the rest of the body, the brains of men and women might just be arranged and wired just a bit differently, all under the action of the same cocktail of hormones. For some, the brain and nervous system might as well develop autonomously and in isolation from the rest of the body.