Viva la Difference.

As a preamble, I should point out that this particular ‘Blog’ is not directed at any individual but is, rather, a general view. There will be, naturally, differences and exceptions.

Men and women are different.

No. Really.

I appreciate that this is hardly the sort of news that is normally preceded by words such as ‘Shock!’ or ‘Horror!’ and neither is it in the nature of ‘Breaking News here on CNN at Ten’.

Of course, the physical differences are self-apparent. Anatomically we are different. This is the sort of thing that keeps several industries turning over.

It is the mental differences that are intriguing. Those things that we all see and hear but, perhaps, don’t always register as differences.

Let’s look at some of the obvious ones.

Some time ago I wrote a ‘Blog’ that included a thought about ‘Vegans’. Part of that consideration was the idea that we have evolved over thousands of years to accommodate a certain dietary requirement.

We could reasonably extend that thought into other areas.

Several thousand years ago, in a small village East of the nearest other small village, the Chief would be pre-occupied with several things like keeping his people fed and serving out justice; there might also be a worry about remaining as Chief in the face of up and coming younger rivals.

The village will also contain a number of desirable and attractive young females. All of them will wish to mate with the Chief. Why? Because he is successful. He has the means, strength and authority to protect her and, most of all, the offspring.

Sitting out by the fence and fluttering her eyelashes is not enough. If she wants to catch this fellow she needs to be pro-active. This will mean putting herself into his line of sight and, most importantly, ensuring that her best features are displayed for his attention and appreciation.

She is, we will surmise, successful in her strategy. She catches him.

Now she has a problem.

Keeping him.

Now that she has got him and successfully, one might think, bred with the Chief, she is busy looking after the home and the child(ren?). There is little time in the day to address her personal assets, which will begin to decay with successive childbirths.

The Chief is still strong and attractive to the other little girls in the village.

[Note here: in those days we are talking about a society that has a limited life span – possible only thirty years. Someone over thirty would be a village elder and a source of knowledge about the history and traditions of the village. Small girls of ten years, or so, would be marriageable; this is, to us, the act of a paedophile but we cannot judge past cultures by our, modern, standards. The way we live, compared to theirs, is very different – as is our longevity.]

The other girls have slim, lithe, fit figures that are, potentially, more attractive to the Chief than his wife. How does his wife keep him?

Who does she blame if he ‘wanders off’?

It still happens today. You see it all the time in the newspapers. Men have affairs (and women take lovers, too), they are discovered and all hell breaks out. It is the end of everything that they have previously held dear; perhaps it means losing their job.

You see, coupled (if I might coin a phrase) with the idea described above women are biologically hard-wired to be with one man – exceptions exist, of course. Men are, equally, biologically hard-wired to spread their seed into as many females as possible in order to promote their ‘line’.

Women are connected up mentally to look after the children, which is why they have breasts, ‘Playboy’ notwithstanding. This extends to looking after the home and keeping it safe for the children to play and learn in.

The man’s role in all this is to go out and hunt for food. We are an omnivorous species, the man is physically equipped to go out and hack down animals to feed the family. He is also there to protect his village, his home and his family. This is the basis of the word ‘husband’ – one who nurtures and protects. A similarity can be drawn with the phrases ‘ship’s husband’ and ‘animal husbandry.

This process has been with us for thousands of years. We cannot dispense with it overnight no matter what the ‘politically correct’ people and the feminist movement people want.

We are human animals that have developed over a vast period of time, the changes sought by ‘human rights’ protagonists are a dream right now. It will take hundreds of years more to resolve this and get us thinking in a different way.

We are technologically advanced but our social advancement has been very limited.

Even now the differences between men and women are apparent.

Who do factories, especially electronic manufacturers, employ to do delicate and fine work over a period of hours? Women. Why? Because they are better at it.

Women are accustomed to looking after the details of the home and the needs of the children; this includes making their clothes and preparing their food.

Detail. Fine detail. Concentration for long periods at a time.

Men?

Men are out surveying the area for prey and enemies. They are looking for the big picture; detail is something that only occurs for brief periods every now and then.

This is, of necessity, only a brief glimpse at the subject. I’m quite sure you can do more with it and fill in the gaps.

What does it have to do with writing?

This.

When you describe men and women remember that there is more to them than their physical attributes.

These other characteristics are also different. The way women think is different to the way that men think.

When Mary Shelley wrote ‘Frankenstein’ she was clever enough to give Dr. Frankenstein male characteristics. This indicates what an astute observer she was back in the early 1800s. Sadly, some modern writers are not so observant, male writers give women male characteristics and vice versa.

Think about what you are writing; make it part of your proofreading system.

Men and women are different.

Thank heavens!