Hi all! I know everyone here has heard the really cheap anti-feminist argument that because women are physically weaker than men (in some ways) that women must be inherently inferior to men. I don’t really have any issues arguing against this idea; physical strength obviously isn’t the only valuable characteristic in humans.
What I do wonder about, though, is how much stronger women would be physically if children of all genders were raised equally?
Now I haven’t formally studied any of this, but I do have some examples from my own (very old fashioned) childhood that help shape these ideas for me.
When I was about 11-14, I was criticized by my parents for gaining weight during puberty and my coaches for dance and gymnastics told me to slim down to remain competitive. My brother also experienced weight gain during puberty, and was praised by my parents and coaches and everyone almost seemed overjoyed that he was a “big boy”
As a result I limited my own calories substantially during the crucial growing years of puberty to stay under 100lbs, while my brother ate as much as he wanted, mostly protein, and ended up getting pretty overweight before he hit his growth spurts and got tall and lean. He ended up being over 6 feet tall and I’m exactly 5 feet tall.
I also read this story years ago about young athletes increasing height and strength during puberty by following high calorie diets and strict workout programs.
Although I don’t know of any research on this topic (if anyone else knows of any studies on these things please let me know!) and can’t verify this idea, I can’t help but think that any organism given more nutrients would grow better than one that was limited in nutrient intake.
I know I’m not the only girl who was subtlety encouraged not to eat during puberty. Girls in my high school participated in the lemonade and cayenne pepper cleanse frequently as a way of fasting to keep extra pounds off.
Eating too much and/or getting seconds isn’t ladylike, but growing boys can eat whatever and however much they want.
TL;DR: would the disparity in strength between men and women be as great if all children were raised without sexism?
[–][deleted] 6 points7 points8 points (8 children) | Copy Link
But they can only give birth because of men in the first place.
[–]Gameperson700[S] 3 points4 points5 points (7 children) | Copy Link
Not true! You can use bone marrow to sexist man pig! No just kidding. It takes two to tango.
[–][deleted] (4 children) | Copy Link
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[–][deleted] 1 point2 points3 points (3 children) | Copy Link
imagine thinking only women have bone marrow.
[–][deleted] (1 child) | Copy Link
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[–][deleted] 0 points1 point2 points (0 children) | Copy Link
ignorant u
[–]Gameperson700[S] 0 points1 point2 points (0 children) | Copy Link
A feminist would say “imagine thinking only women have a vagina.”.
[–]Ferretninja007 0 points1 point2 points (1 child) | Copy Link
Actually you can do that but there will be so many birth defects even If the child does survive birth it will never be able to live a normal life
[–]Gameperson700[S] 0 points1 point2 points (0 children) | Copy Link
Yeah I know.
[–]SpectrumX7 0 points1 point2 points (8 children) | Copy Link
Biologically speaking men are superior to women in terms of physical strength, not because of it.
[–]Gameperson700[S] 1 point2 points3 points (7 children) | Copy Link
You could say that same thing about giving birth and nurturing a baby. Women are superior in those areas compared to me, but not superior because of it.
[–]SpectrumX7 0 points1 point2 points (6 children) | Copy Link
Exactly my point. There are some differences between men and women and that should be acknowledged, but feminists just cannothandle the fact that men and women are different.
[–]Gameperson700[S] 0 points1 point2 points (5 children) | Copy Link
I’ve taken psychology before and it states that men and women are more similar than different. After all, we both have arms, legs, hair, sex drives, organs, eyeballs and muscles. Sometimes it’s how that stuff manifests in us that makes us different. Like both men and women have hips but a woman’s hips are generally wider. Both men and women have muscles but men generally have more muscle mass. I wish people would take psychology rather than gender studies.
[–]SpectrumX7 0 points1 point2 points (4 children) | Copy Link
Hmm, that doesn't deny though, that men and women are different in a lot of ways. I have observed people and clearly, being a different gender does have a significant effect.
Of course physically speaking, men and women are similar in terms of that and I completely agree on that, (Tbf I don't know what to agree upon here as what you have said is basic science.). And of course I do completely agree on that as well, biologically speaking, men and women are different. It's completely ludicrous to say that they are equal in ALL TERMS, which is of course what gender studies students would say.
[–]Gameperson700[S] 0 points1 point2 points (1 child) | Copy Link
Precisely what I meant. I feel like feminists have taken the word equality too literally. Equality doesn’t mean Apple = orange. It means that although apples and oranges are different, they are both fruit. Men and women are different, but they are both humans and deserve to have the same rights and opportunities.
[–]SpectrumX7 0 points1 point2 points (0 children) | Copy Link
Agreed
[–]Gameperson700[S] 0 points1 point2 points (1 child) | Copy Link
I also think that feminists need to learn that biology sucks. As a woman, yeah it sucks that I can’t lift heavy stuff like a man. But you know what? It probably also sucks for a lot of men out there that they can’t nurture a young child like a woman can since they don’t have the necessary physical attributes to do so ( by that I mean breasts and milk). That’s probably why more men are in jobs like police work and more women are in more social jobs like teaching. Not that men and women can’t cross over in these areas as long as they’re qualified, but yeah life is unfair wether you’re a man or woman.
[–]SpectrumX7 0 points1 point2 points (0 children) | Copy Link
Agreed as well. Life is unfair, we can't do anything about that.