Introduction to Essay Series 1

Most societies assert that men are superior to women, and women’s behaviors require strict controls.² Men’s superiority is a myth. No major differences exist between boys and girls or women and men in terms of intelligence, problem-solving ability, creativity, or interest in achievement. Some minor differences do occur in verbal skills, reading disabilities, and spatial abilities (ability to mentally rotate objects in space). Some of these differences favor girls and women, and others favor boys and men.

In addition, men aren’t the strongest sex physically. Each sex has its unique strengths. Women’s bodies are strong and adaptable because they can nurture fetuses, give birth, and nurse babies. In addition, women’s bodies tend to have stronger immune systems than men’s do. Women also have an advantage in certain types of physical endurance. Men are only stronger physically if one accepts the myths that men are the gold standard for human beings and upper body strength is the only type of strength that matters.

A result of the myth of women’s inferiority is that many societies and cultural institutions impose restrictions on them.³ For example, conservative branches of major religions have restrictions on women’s dress, behavior, ability to lead, and freedom to live as they please. These traditions generally require women to follow and obey men.

Essay Series 1 discusses several topics. The first essay describes the actual differences between the sexes’ brains and bodies. The second essay addresses the gender stereotypes forced on girls and boys from childhood. The third essay shows that sex and sex roles in the animal kingdom are fluid and diverse; this has implications for humans.

In these essays, I’m using the words sex and gender differently. Sex describes the biological traits that determine whether a person’s body is female, male, or intersex. This last term refers to humans who have biological female and male characteristics; intersex people may represent up to two percent of the population.^{4, 5}

Gender means the roles, behaviors, and norms that societies associate with girls and women, or boys and men. Gender norms vary by society and time. So, gender is a changeable social idea separate from biological sex. Many people don’t fit into either feminine or masculine categories because they are non-binary or gender fluid. In addition, some people are transgender; their biological sex differs from their gender identity.