Nature Accounts for Behavioral Differences Between Males and Females
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Men and women behave in completely different ways. Men are often scrutinized for being too aggressive, violent and only wanting sex. Women, on the other hand, are often criticized for being too bossy, fussy and only wanting commitment in a relationship. The differences in the way males and females behave can be accounted for through both nature and nurture aspects. In regard to behavior, men and women are expected to play standard roles in life. Men are expected to earn the money for the family, bring home the food and be the protector of his family, whereas women are expected to stay at home, cook for the family and bring up the children. Society is changing, and these roles are slowly varying. An obvious observation is that men and women cannot live without each other. Biologically, men and women are vastly different, evidence in the brain, hormones and inheritance show the distinctions between sexes. Physically, emotionally and mentally, men and women differ greatly. However, these differences can work to our advantage. The difference in physical appearances allows men to be attracted to females, and women to be attracted to males. The different emotional beings permit men and women to depend on each other for comfort at times of sadness, anger, happiness and many other emotions. Mentally, men and women think very differently, but this difference accounts for a gender to be curious and wanting to find out how the opposite sex thinks. Analyzing the difference in behaviors in both males and females, judging from effects of the brain, effects of inherited genes, in comparison to the effects of the environment and surroundings, reveals that the vast differences in males and females results from the effects of nature. An overall judgment establishes that males and females, despite of differences, need each other in order to lead a healthy, satisfying life.
Biological psychologists argue that humans are born with brains filled with information to make up who we become (Pinker, 2002). Physically, with exception of diseases which affect sexuality, we are born with body parts that determine if we are male or female. The human brain is set to know a persons gender, therefore telling the body how to behave as that certain gender. By default, we determine a woman by her breasts, uterus and ovaries and as though her heart, brain and every other part of her body are like those of a man. We determine a man by his penis, scrotum and chest hair, also as though his heart, brain and every other part of his body are like those of a woman. However, deep inside biological knowledge, it can be determined that the brains of males and females differ greatly, when humans are born. In the past, scientists assumed that females were simply males with hormones (Shors, unknown). Further studies prove the exact opposite. In fact, female is the natural brain setting in a fetus. Until the eighth week of gestation, every human fetal brain looks female. The brain, like the rest of the human body, becomes male as a result of surges of testosterone–one during gestation and one shortly after birth (“The Mismeasure of Woman”, 2006). Research shows that female and male brain tissues are significantly different. In males, many areas of the brain have protein coded by the Y chromosome, whereas these proteins are absent in womens brain tissue. Conversely, womens brain tissue contain material coded by the X chromosome, but this material is absent in mens brain tissue (Sax, 2005). An example of a difference in male and female brains, in regard to behaviors was careful studies conducted by pediatric audiologists, Barbara Cone-Wesson, Glendy Ramirez (1997) and Yvonne Sininger (1998), which showed that the average girl baby had an acoustic brain response to a sound about 80 percent greater than the response of the average baby boy. This proves the vast difference in auditory skills between males and females. Cambridge University researchers (2000) proved another aspect of behavior which accounts for differences in male and female brains. An experiment conducted by the researchers proved that girls are born to be interested in faces while boys are born to be more interested in moving objects. Many more examples can account for the fact that male and female brains are distinctly different. A conclusion can be drawn that the male and female brains affect the way different sexes behave.
A big part of who we become depends on the genes that we inherit at birth. Parents pass on chromosomes to their children, and as a result, the offspring inherit certain traits that are determined by what chromosomes we receive. Though a lot of traits we inherit are physical traits, it is obvious that we also inherit personality and attitude traits. A lot of times, we grow up to be similar to our mother or father in specific aspects. By chance, we inherit random traits from both our parents. As we grow older, we tend to take on a parents personality trait, e.g. fussiness, bossiness, aggressiveness. This affects the way we behave in regard to how we are like around strangers or just people we know. It also affects the way we act when we are alone, or in groups. However, inheritance can result in certain errors. Common conditions such as color blindness or hemophilia are due to errors on the X chromosome. The Y chromosome appears to contain mostly non-coding material (Bland, 2003). A weird trait that does not add to be the determination of our gender results because of the X-linked recessive inheritance, which can lead to a fetus suffering in diseases which both parents do not have. This results to the point where self-consciousness may build up more than usual (Bland, 2003). Another major difference between males and females is hormones. When the human brain is fully developed, males get surges of testosterone, while females release estrogen. As adolescents, humans display behavioral differences already. An experiment showed that a one day old girl will look at a face longer than at a mechanical mobile; a boy will prefer the mobile. This is due to testosterone exposure (“The Mismeasure of Woman”, 2006). Dr. Sherif Karama and his associates (2002) did a study comparing brain areas activated in women and men during sexual arousal. Results in men showed lots of activation at the base of the brain, in the thalamus and the hypothalamus, while the women showed more activity up in the cerebral cortex. Because the sexual experience in women