The Differences between Men and Women Do men and women think differently?

According to Nicholas Wades essay, How Men and Women Think, and various researchers, they do. Men and women, on average, do think differently and prefer different things. This is as true, as when Wade wrote about it, as it is today. Something that can be derived from Wades essay, is that men and women have their respective fields of expertise. It may be impolitic to some feminists, but it doesnt change the fact that the sexes are different from one another. The differences range from the interior and exterior, from physical to mental. In this case, the differences range cerebrally. Not every girl decides she wants to be a firefighter and not every boy decides he wants to be a preschool teacher. I, for one, have found that I follow the mold of my sex. Im horrible in math; excel in language and art. My major is art, which goes to show I didnt go against any molds. There is, of course, an exception to every rule, but the exceptions dont equate the majority (Sabbatini). The minority, who do decide upon these unlikely professions, for their given sex, are the minority. This does not undervalue them, but it does not make their study one we correlate our greater research to. These differences between the sexes, is observed in preference. The differences between the way men and women think, is best observed during childhood. Childhood marks the way men and women are different, when playing, feeling, and learning. The way children play, is indicative of their sex. Playing is a time, when children are most relaxed and they demonstrate their preferences. Numerous studies have proven that boys tend to gravitate toward balls or toy cars, whereas girls more typically reach for a doll (Cahill). A study was done, to test if this tendency was dictated by culture or innate. As in, did parents promote for their daughters to play with dolls and their boys with cars, or was this something the children were born with? This study, by Melissa Hines and Gerianne M. Alexander, was done

with monkeys. Monkeys were used, because of their similar characteristics with humans. They were given cars, balls, and dolls; toys human children play with. The monkeys confirmed the same preferences as human children, according to gender (Cahill). This goes to show, that this personal preference, is inborn. The majority of people are born desiring objects or toys that coincide with society and their sex. I noticed this with myself. I thought back to the toys I used to play with as a child. At an early age, I was fascinated with dolls and all things aesthetically pleasing. This doesnt mean I didnt have fun playing with trucks and cars, but they werent my first choice. In addition, from what I remember, the only reason I ever played with them, was because I had a few male friends. This reiterates that the majority of children are born wanting to play with certain toys. They play with the toys that are pleasing to their sex. Feelings are another way that the sexes are divided. Feeling is the ability to empathize or feel emotion. In this context, feelings are felt more by women, than they are by men. The female brain is predominantly hard-wired for empathy. The male brain is hard-wired for understanding and building systems (Baron-Cohen, 1). This doesnt mean that men dont feel, but that they are better at putting their emotions aside. Another reason for this difference is found in chemicals. The male brain usually produces less of two powerful chemicals, serotonin and oxytocin, than the female brain does. Serotonin tends to calm us down, while oxytocin may be related to bonding behaviors (Shaw, 2). This means, that chemically speaking, women are better suited for feelings, and getting deep into emotions. This also involves speech patterns, because with all those desires to bond and feel, women want to talk and be closer. After having read studies, and numerous points, reiterating this one, I was able to relate. I know that I love to talk to my friends. Sometimes talking for the sake of talking is relaxing. The desire to feel closer and bond with people is important and sometimes all consuming. Ive noticed that latter

trait with my niece. She lives for all forms of communication and bonding. It also occurred to me, that if women were not into bonding, then children would not have anyone to nurture them and care for them. In a way, its great that at least one of both sexes is predisposed for feeling emotions and wanting to be closer. Feelings are yet another way the sexes are divided. Lastly, aside from playing and feeling, learning is a way men and women are different. Learning is the way people process information. A great deal of these differences, between sexes, occurs, in English and Math. One teacher notes these differences when she says: For years, I sensed that the girls and boys in my classrooms learn in genderspecific ways, but I didn't know enough to help each student reach full potential. I was trained in the idea that each student is an individual. But when I saw the PET scans of boys' and girls' brains, I saw how differently those brains are set up to learn. This gave me the missing component. I trained in male/female brain differences and was able to teach each individual child. Now, looking back, I'm amazed that teachers were never taught the differences between how girls and boys learn. (Gurian and Stevens, 2) This teachers findings are not uncommon of either sex. Females are statistically better at subjects involving language skills, while boys are better with subjects including numbers and symbols. Personally, I have found this to be true. Im abysmal when it comes to math. Absolutely awful! I know this, but try not to, because then I wouldnt try to do better in said subject. Before having read any of this information, I attributed my lacking, with genetics. It might be a little bit of both. Its quite possible. I do know that there is an exception to every statistic, including this one. One of my best math tutors was a girl. However, she was one of very few. It seems that learning is yet another way, men and women are different.

In total, Nicholas Wades essay, How Men and Women Think, is correct, when saying that men and women think differently. Men and women, on average, do think differently and prefer different things. They think differently in the way they play, feel, and learn. However, there is some hope for either side, all depending how you view the statistics. An interesting point is, when we deliberately change sex-role behaviorsay, men become more nurturing or women more aggressiveour hormones and even our brains respond by changing too (Sabbatini, 4). This makes sense, when taking into consideration, single-parent families. The parent is not always the mother, so a need to become nurturing and understanding, is needed by the father. People do have it in them, to go against their inborn ways of thought. Men and women can interchange their roles, but its a matter of effort and desire. The same can be said of preferences in certain subjects. The reason person favor a subject, is because they are good at it and consider it easy. If people were to give that extra effort, in going against their innate urges, then perhaps these stereotypes and statistics wouldnt exist.