Understanding Differences Between Men and Women
I had the day off so I took advantage and posted another video, this one foundational to my project because we have to begin understanding the way we think about and talk about differences between men and women. All of this so we can next talk about differences between very masculine men, other men, and women. I keep promising to keep the math and the data to a minimum but so far I am failing there. Hang in there with me, I’ll eventually learn how to just talk about what matters instead of how I got there. For now, maybe it’s okay if I over-disclose my approach so you have a better sense of where I’m coming from?
Resources:
Books for general readers that discuss the biology and sociology of maleness and masculinity (among other topics). I don’t endorse everything in these books but they are all very worth the read.
Behave, by Robert Sapolsky
https://www.amazon.com/Behave-Biology-Humans-Best-Worst/dp/1594205078
Warriors and Worriers: The Survival of the Sexes, by Joyce Benenson
https://www.amazon.com/Warriors-Worriers-Survival-Joyce-Benenson-dp-0199972230/dp/0199972230/
The Ape that Understood the Universe, by Steve Stewart-Williams
https://www.amazon.com/Ape-that-Understood-Universe-Culture/dp/1108425046
My October 2021 post on The Pitfalls and Power of Masculinity
https://ifstudies.org/blog/the-pitfalls-and-power-of-masculinity
The data from the video:
Discussion:
As we saw in the video, the differences between men and women’s perceptions of their weight were statistically significant. But they weren’t huge. How big does a difference between men and women have to be before it means something? What explanations for this or other differences do you find yourself most likely to agree with? How does your own sense of masculinity and/or femininity likely influence the way you respond to the data and what explanations you prefer?
Final bonus round question: If you had to be Rocky Balboa or Jack Ritter from Three’s Company, which would you choose? And if your answer depends on which season of Three’s Company so you know which co-stars you would be surrounded by, I get you.