Men and Women especially have always sought for political and societal equality. Women demanded for the right to vote and for equal opportunities. But no matter how hard we will strife to make males and females equal, the matter of the fact is that men and women are as different as two entities could be. We have learned different skills and adapted different ways of thinking over time since we’ve outgrown the cave era. Men will always be the physically stronger sex and women will always remain talkative. This paper will discover and unearth the actual differences between men and women and also will find the reason as to why we are the way we are.

It is not long ago, when people believed that through successful child rearing, a good personality can be formed. This theory is called nature vs. nurture, and states that there are certain traits that people have when they are born, but the parents, environment, and future experiences will determine who you will become. This theory seems very logical, since we all experience events and people that shape or change us. But biological evidence now shows that our whole personality is already set in the womb of our mothers. The culprits are the hormones and the brain wirings, which determine who we will be what sexual preferences we will have and most probably where we will work and what our hobbies will be (Pease p. 3-15).

Before we go into the details of the actual differences of men and women, we should take a look at the definition of hormones and what important roles they play in the human body.

A hormone is a chemical messenger that carries a signal from one cell (or group of cells) to another via the blood. All multi-cellular organisms produce hormones. Hormones generally regulate the function of their target cells, i.e., cells that express a receptor for the hormone. The action or net effect of hormones is determined by a number of factors including its pattern of secretion and the response of the receiving tissue – the signal transduction response (Wikipedia).

There are different effects hormones have on human bodies. Hormones are there for stimulation or inhibition of growth, in puberty they can affect mood and mind, they can activate or inhibit the immune system, they also regulate metabolism. Another important effect on the human body and mind is that hormones prepare the human for a new activity such as fighting, fleeing, and more importantly mating. Hormones furthermore control the reproductive cycle and prepare the human body for a new phase of life such as puberty, parenthood, and menopause (Wikipedia).

The human creation process starts with a fertilized egg that develops into an embryo. We know that the so-called “default” gender is female but the real gender will be determined through the XX chromosome or the XY chromosome. If it is a XX chromosome, the embryo will develop into a girl, and if it is a XY chromosome, it will develop into a boy. Six to eight weeks after conception, the fetus is still sexless and has the potential to develop male or female genitalia.

German scientist Dr. Günther Dorner was one of the first to advance the theory that our sexual identity is formed six to eight weeks after conception. He also discovered the influence of hormones on the gender development. A genetic boy (XY) develops special cells to direct large amounts of male hormones, particularly testosterone, to form male body parts and configure the brain for masculine traits and behaviors, which we will go to later. But let us assume that a male fetus requires four units of these hormones; one to form the male genitals and three to configure the brain with a male operating system. This male fetus receives only three out of the four, which means that the first unit is used to form genitals but the brain only receives two, which means that the brain becomes two-thirds male and remains one-third female. This will result in a boy who will grow up with a mainly male brain, but with some female thinking patterns and abilities (Allan& Barbara Pease).

If in any case the male fetus only gets two units; one for the genitals and one for the brain, then this boy will grow up with male genitals, but with a mainly female structures thinking, and in puberty will most likely to become homosexual. It is in puberty when boys and girls will have hormones racing through their body to fully develop the body and sexual organs. It is because of the additional hormones when most teenagers discover their homosexuality.

Now that we know how the gender and male and female thinking structures develop, we can now tackle the major differences between men and women. Many of us already know that our behavioral patterns and thinking structures derived from our ancestors the cave men. These patterns still hold true today and explain the most irrational behaviors of each sex. How women hate it when men do not take care of their emotional needs, and how men hate it that a women can never shut up. Here are the reasons as to why men behave the way they behave.

Let us examine the abilities of males. Have you ever wondered why men cannot find the things they look for right away? That is because they have a tunnel vision, like a pair of binoculars which only enables them to look into far distances straight ahead. Men were hunters, which means, they only had to focus on one object straight ahead. A man’s brain can configure a 3 dimensional map in their brain and because of this can read maps better and hear the direction of a sound. Male brains are compartmentalized which means they can only do one thing at a time. The brain of a male also has a thinner corpus callosum than the female, which means that the male brain only works with one wide of the brain. Men have increased spatial skills thanks to the male hormones. Spatial skills are mainly located on the right brain hemisphere. When men communicate, they are direct to the point and always treat listening to a person as problem solving. Men also have fewer verbal receptors in the brain, which explains why they talk lesser than women. Testosterone, the male hormone, is the hormone of success, achievement, and aggression. Too much testosterone will lead a person to too much aggression and will result in crime (Allan & Barbara Pease).

Now we know how males are wired and we will move on to the female skills and brain wiring. The female vision is peripheral which means, she can see almost up to 180⁰. This was needed when the woman was the nest defender and needed to watch the children and possible enemies sneaking up to the cave. Women can also see more color and women’s eyes have more white which allows a greater range of eye signals since close-range personal communication is an integral part of female bonding. Women have the so-called sixth sense which simply means that women can read the body language of others and can quickly detect the emotion of a person. This is also the reason why men cannot lie to women. Women are also better in distinguishing high-pitched sounds, because a women’s brain is programmed to hear a baby cry at night, while a man can sleep over it. Besides having a superior sensitivity to body language and emotions, women also have superior sensitivity in differentiating tone changes in voice volume and pitch. The reason why so many women want to “just cuddle” is because women’s skin is at least ten times more sensitive to touch and pressure than men’s. Women also have a better sense of smell than the average men. Women’s noses can detect the pheromones associated with men and unconsciously decode the state of a man’s immune system. Boys and men alike like things, rather than people, compete rather than co-operate, and analyze and solve problems rather than listen to them (Allan Pease).

Women have specific areas for speech and often occupy professions that make use of such. Women are multi-trackers, which means they can jump from one topic in a conversation to another without getting lost. The same way it is with activities; women can do two or more things at the same time, because of their ability to multi-track. This multi-tracking is due to the stronger corpus callosum of women which connects both hemispheres and therefore can do more things at the same time. Women see verbal communication as a way of bonding with people, and women also need to talk in the end of the day to release stress. Women are also accused of being too emotional. This is only true because women’s emotion receptors in the brain are more scattered than men’s. And due to their thick corpus callosum, women can connect different activities with different emotions, while men can stay emotionless, since his brain is compartmentalized.

Oestrogen the female hormone is responsible for enhanced articulation and fine-motor skills, that is why women during the menstrual cycle on high estrogen days can behave calmly and speak with near-perfect articulation. The same it is with high testosterone days; her speech may be more erratic but her spatial ability is better. The hormones are responsible for the Pre-Menstrual-Tension (PMT) which drives women insane (Barbara &Allan Pease).

In 1998 a study by the Canadian brain research authority showed that higher testosterone level increased the spatial skills and the mathematical reasoning. Unfortunate for women, during PMT the testosterone level sinks which means it is during that time that women are more likely to score less in a mathematical exam. Testosterone makes men the aggressive hunter, but modern day and society does not very much approve of men killing everything, so the hunter substitution is commonly known as sport. This enumeration will show you the effects of estrogen, progesterone and testosterone; estrogen is responsible for an overall feeling of contentment and well-being, and plays a major role in a woman’s nurturing and nest-defending behaviors. Estrogen has a calming effect and is often given to males in prisons to control violent behavior. Estrogen also helps memory, which is why during menopause, the memory level drops with the drop of hormones. The female hormone progesterone is the hormone that releases parental and nurturing feelings and its purpose is to encourage a woman to carry out her child-rearing role successfully. Progesterone is released whenever a woman sees a baby or a baby-like appearance in a toy, which is also why stuffed toys and dolls that look like babies have always sold higher than other toys (Allan & Barbara Pease).

Testosterone on the other hand is responsible for aggression, spatial ability; it deepens the voice, and makes men’s beards grow. It is also a cause of baldness. As men reach their 50s and 60s, the level of testosterone decreases and they become less aggressive and more nurturing, but for women, the reverse happens; after menopause estrogen decreases leaving them with a bigger amount of testosterone and as a result, they become more assertive and self-reliant.

Now we know that hormones program our brains before birth, dictating our behavior and the way we think. Testosterone in teenage boys is 15-20 times higher, and when they go into puberty, the testosterone gives them a dramatic spurt of growth. The body ratio of teenage boys is 15% fat and 45% protein. He turns into an adolescent and his body physically changes to match the biological job description which is the lean, mean, lunch-chasing machine. Boys are excellent in sport because their bodies are hormonally constructed for effective breathing and they have excellent oxygen distribution via the red blood cells to allow running, jumping, and grappling. Steroids are male hormones that build additional muscle mass and give athletes extra “hunting” abilities and an unfair advantage over others.

Female hormones have a different effect on teenage girls. They are not regulated, but come in huge waves over a 28-day cycle and can cause havoc for many girls due to the rise and fall of emotions. Female hormones change a girl’s body into a ratio of 26% fat and 20% protein. The purpose of the extra fat is to give additional breastfeeding energy. Female hormones fatten the body and can be used for livestock such as pigs or cows, but male hormones reduce fat and build muscle (Barbara & Allen Pease).

The big question now remains, despite all these differences between men and women, what is the key factor that still brings them together? The simple answer is reproduction; the more complex answer is companionship and relationship. Let us not go too deep into the relationship of men and women but rather analyze our reproductive relationship and find out what attracts us to each other.

Beauty they say is in the eye of the beholder. But in biology, beauty is a natural indicator of a healthy body and a healthy reproductive system. The way a person looks can get him or her into a better job, better partner, and better things in life. Whenever we say, that we find a person beautiful, then we subconsciously attracted to the person and think of the person as a possible reproductive partner.

Every study over the last 60 years reaches the same conclusion that a woman’s appearance and body is more attractive to men than her intelligence or assets. Authors Allan and Barbara Pease have collected a data of 13 of men’s turn-ons in priority order. This will reveal biologically why men are attracted to physical aspects. The first point is Athletic body shape, which indicated a strong, fit body and is a signal of a woman’s ability to successfully bear children, flee from danger and defend the offspring if necessary. Most men prefer a heavier woman to a leaner one, because the additional fat aids breastfeeding. The list goes on will full breasts as a turn-on. Full breasts indicate a woman’s sexual and reproductive peak. Another factor is long legs. Woman’s legs serve as sexual signal because they draw attention to the area where the left and right legs meet. Men also prefer women with rounded thicker legs than athletic skinny legs, because additional fat highlights the sex difference and is an indicator of better lactation.

Rounded hips and a small waist in 5th on the list of turn-ons and signals high fertility, the same way a flat stomach indicates that a woman is not pregnant and available. A woman who has excellent health and is capable of bearing children has a hip-to-waist ratio of 70% that is the waist is 70% the size of her hips. If the ratio exceeds 100% it is a non-verbal indicator for low fertility, since fat is barely deposited around vital organs such as the heart, brain, testes, and ovaries (Allan & Barbara Pease). Next on the list are hemispherical buttocks. A rounded buttock is attractive because it signals that there is a large amount of fat that can be used for breastfeeding. If a woman has an arched back and an arched vulva, it means that she is fertile. Curves and arches indicate femininity and fertility, while geometric and angular shapes indicate masculinity. Long necks are another turn-on on that list. A long neck shows femininity since the shorter, thicker and stronger necks are held by men, to protect them from enemies (Allan & Barbara Pease).

Let us move to the features of women’s faces that attract attention of men. The preferred features of female faces are small faces with short chins, delicate jaws, high cheekbones, full lips, and eyes that are large in proportion to the length of the face. For a woman’s face to be universally classified as “pretty” it must be childlike. These kinds of faces triggers paternal reactions in the brains of men and give a powerful desire to touch, embrace and protect. One of the most attractive factors in the face is a sensual mouth. Humans are the only primates that have lips that sit on the outside of the face instead of inside the mouth. Zoologists believe a woman’s lips to have evolved as a mirror of her genitals because they are the same size and thickness. This is called the “genital echo,” a reaction that transmits a powerful signal to male observers. This is also the reason why many women choose red lipstick, since red is a sexual signal. Attractive large eyes inspire protective feelings in men as well as dilated pupils, the same way it is with a small nose, which also brings out paternal feelings in men, which is why large eyes and small noses are also in the turn-on list. The last point on our list is long hair. Women with blonde hair have high estrogen levels and men are attracted to blondes more because more estrogen indicated fertility. Long shiny hair indicated a healthy and well-nourished body and therefore shows the potential fitness to produce offspring. Long hair is associated with sensual allure while short hair is associated with a more serious approach in life (Allan & Barbara Pease).

The list of what attracts females to males is considerably shorter because male physical sex appeal is much more basic and straightforward. Women have always been primarily attracted to healthy, strong men who could obtain food and protect her and her children, and that hasn’t changed much. But the modern day woman wants more than her ancestors: she wants a man who will fulfill her emotional needs. Thus women look for softness and hardness in a man. On top of the attraction list for women is an athletic looking v-shaped body. A strong body is a signal of good health and the ability to catch food and fight off enemies. Turn-on number two is broad shoulders, chest and muscular arms. Men should have these features to signalize that they can lug heavy weapons over long distances and carry home their kills. The bigger a man’s chest is, the more respect and power he commands. Men have longer forearms than woman which enables them to be better providers. Another attraction is a small, tight bum. The secret in this attraction is that a tight, muscular rear is necessary to make the strong forward thrusting motion during sex. Turn-on #4 is full hair or baldness. Throughout history, hair on the head has been considered a badge of raw masculinity.

Male baldness on the other hand is hereditary and is caused by an overproduction of male hormones. These hormones flood the system and switch off certain hair papillae. Because of these high hormone levels, bald men are usually more aggressive and sexually more aroused than men with hair, thus making baldness the super-male signal. Turn on #5 & 6 are a sensual mouth and kind eyes. When women describe men’s mouth and eyes they refer to the attitude, which proves that men see the actual feature itself, while women look beyond to seek the emotion. A woman will show a preference for men with darker eyes, because light eyes are more infantile in appearance. The next turn-on is the nose and the chin. The male nose and chin have evolved to give a man protection from powerful blows during fighting or hunting, and thus making both a badge of masculinity. High testosterone levels give a more protruding jaw. As for the nose, common myth says that the nose shows the size of a man’s penis, but there has been no research to substantiate this myth. What the nose and a man’s penis have in common is that they protrude and that both expand with blood during sexual arousal (Allan & Barbara Pease).

Narrow hips and muscular legs are also on the list of most attractive body parts. Men’s narrow hips and muscular legs allow him to run swiftly over long distances to chase and hunt. Women find a 90% hip-to-waist ratio attractive and men’s legs are attractive because they are symbols of masculine power and endurance. Turn-on #10 is the large penis. Women who appear excited about a long penis are reacting more to the perceived masculine power of the organ than to what its length will physically achieve. In fact, women in a happy relationship will rarely ever think about penis size. Evolution has not programmed women to be sexually aroused by the sight of male genitals, which is the opposite of what happens to men. The last turn-on is the tree-day beard. Male hormones cause long facial-hair growth, which means the higher a man’s testosterone on a given day, the faster it grows, thus the three-day bears serves as a strong visual badge of masculinity (Allan & Barbara Pease).

Men have two lists: their first impression list, and what they seek in a long-term partner, but women only ever have one list. Women want a man to be caring, intelligent, humorous, loyal and understanding. A good body is a bonus for women, but usually ranks lowest of her priorities. Men use a female’s appearance and grooming as a measure of how he feels about her. The female hormone estrogen and progesterone gives a person the nest-defending attributes and thus women all over the world are looking for the perfect provider who can stimulate us emotionally and not only physically. The male hormone testosterone makes one self-reliant and improves spatial and visual skills. This also explains why men are highly visually oriented when it comes to choosing a partner.

Hormones can make or break our lives. Too much testosterone can make us into raging beasts, while too much estrogen can make us sweet like a puppy and increases our memory. The gist of it all is to have an understanding why we function the way we function, and be able to solve our future problems with our hormones and the other sex.