Expert: Ralph Salier - 12/30/2010

Question
What do you think of gender differences, is that from nature or nurture?

Answer
Hi Edith,

Gender differences do exist.  While women can be very strong, men tend to be stronger with greater muscle mass.  Women due to their ability to bear children of course have different plumbing and organs which are designed for that purpose.  This of course changes body demands for nutrients, disease resistance and other factors.  The genetic differences (XX vs XY) also have impacts on vision, hearing, body fat and many other factors.  So, it is nature but, there is also a socio-cultural impact in  which boys and girls are treated differently and are expected to behave differently and this tends to be enforced through out their young lives.  Girls for instance who are "tom boys" are often dissuaded from  this kind of behavior, and boys  that demonstrate effeminate traits are often reprimanded or given "man" tasks to "help change" that behavior.

Girls are often protected in many cultures because they are considered the "weaker" sex in most cultures but this is a biological imparative for child bearing that is "covered" under the guise of culture.