What are women good at?

Meadmaker

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Meadmaker
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I'm wondering if there are objectively judged competitions where women would consistently beat men.

For example, if I run a sprint, men will consistently beat women. That doesn't mean that every man will beat every woman in every race, just that for the most part, men will run faster than women.

Likewise with lots of other athletic competitions. Men are faster and stronger than women. (Again, some exceptions apply, but you know what I mean.) Furthermore, all but the most extreme believers in gender equity will agree that male athletic superiority comes from chemicals, not society. It's the stuff in our genes (and jeans?) that makes us stronger and faster.

Is there any objectively measured competition where women outperform men, and such outperformance is pretty clearly a result of genetics, as opposed to societal influence?

For example, if you have a stain in a shirt in America, and you want to get it out, the chances are that you'll give it to a woman. However, most people think that's a societal factor. There's nothing known about the female brain that makes them inherently better at spot removal than males. Even if there were, trying to separate that from societal influence is very, very, difficult.

There have been some studies that show academic differences between the sexes, but again it's hard to say whether that is a result of genetics, or society.

It is widely believed that women are "more nurturing." I tend to believe that myself, but I wouldn't know any way to measure it.

And of course, women are obviously better at things like "giving birth" and "nursing", but that's not what I'm talking about, either.

Is there an objectively measured competition, where women are generally superior, and where that superiority is not likely to be the result of societal influence?

I have read that women are, objectively, better at "putting things back where they belong". The experiment I heard went something like this. People were shown a group of objects with no obvious pattern of placement. (Maybe it was a deck of cards, placed randomly?) The objects were then rearranged, and the people were asked to put the objects back into the places they had been when first seen by the people. Women consistently outperformed men in this task. (This might explain why my wife is constantly complaining that I put the pots back in "the wrong spot".) Unfortunately, I don't have a link to the experimental results, but if anyone has heard of this experiment, I would like a link.

Are there other, objectively measured, tasks, at which women outperform men?
 
I've heard women have a better sense of smell and taste than men.
 
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RenaissanceBiker said:
Not being color blind. I have to have the Mrs. approve what I wear each day.

She's also a much better shot than I am.
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Me too, but I think that's a societal influence, not a color detection influence. My mother was notoriously awful at selecting good colors. She's Irish, and the Irish of her day didn't have the same sense of "color coordination" that modern Americans have.

She sent me to school dressed in some pretty wacky things.
 
Orb said:
I've heard women have a better sense of smell than men.
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I have heard that, and it could be objectively measured.



They certainly smell better than men, but that could be considered a cultural preference.
 
Anecdote notwithstanding, at least some forms of color blindness -- the clinical condition -- are sex-linked. Far fewer women than men are color-blind.
 
I'm not sure whether it's societal or genetic, but I believe that women are better than men at multi-tasking.
 
Beth said:
I'm not sure whether it's societal or genetic, but I believe that women are better than men at multi-tasking.
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My wife insists that this is true, and it seems plausible. However, if anyone has a link to some study that demonstrates this superiority, I'd like to see it.
 
Oh, and of course, the whole multiple orgasm thing. Neener Neener Neener.
 
Some women have two different varieties of red cones, and hence can detect a slightly larger color gamut than most people.
 
I recall (but haven't looked for supporting evidence) that women have potentially stronger abdominal muscles and so, given the same training as a man, would perform better in exercises like sit-ups and crunches.

When the Army redid its physical fitness scoring back in 1998, it reflected this fact (?) by giving men and women identical scores for identical performance on the sit-up event (they are still scored differently on push-ups and the 2 mile run).
 
I'm fairly certain women can give birth to babies better than men.

Not sure though. Never seen a pregnant man...
 
hmmm, well I remember that women are supposed to do better at cold survival. More fat and all that. Plus, something to do with blood protecting the vital baby making area. Sadly, I remember reading that the research on this while scientifically well done, was done by scientists you really wouldn't want to quote. Freezing people is not generally a good thing.

Now with Nicole Ritchie and Paris Hilton and their lack of body fat, I'm sure they would freeze fast (but then again, I'm not sure anyone would care if you did place them in a freezer, in fact, please do it)

Then there is that bending over and picking up a chair trick that guys can't do. Old baby making thing again I guess.

Women police officers, while once not appreciated (I remember when a woman wanting to go into the police force had to go to court to make the academy take her) are now quite accepted. The NY City head of police claims that women are better at negotiating and reading a subject and reacting. That the average woman rookie cop does quite well without all the intense training they have to give the males to "learn" these skills. Police forces like women as they are more creative in arresting people, and there are fewer complaints by the public. He did say that someone on meth will swing at a male of female officer, and in fact most suspects wouldn't let an officer being a female stop them from violence. He thought it was that females to survive have had to develop skills other than strenght to survive, ad women that had the skills were the ones to survive and breed.

Mind you, a police opinion only! I would like to have seen a study. Though I am told that this opinion is widely held.
 
Beth said:
I'm not sure whether it's societal or genetic, but I believe that women are better than men at multi-tasking.
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That's my wife's mantra, anyway.

:rolleyes:

ETA: regarding female police officers and bars. Drunken men want to fight the male police officers more than the females, but my wife has the most problems with other women. Something about women not wanting to be told what to do by other women...
 
Here is a link to a good article on the smell issue:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/1796447.stm

Women's greater ability to detect odours and aromas could be linked to the oestrogen hormone, according to research.
A US study showed women of reproductive age are far better at identifying odours than men after repeated exposure to the source of the smell.

Researchers found female subjects whose odour sensitivity was tested many times, were able to detect the cherry-almond smell of benzaldehyde and a few other odours at progressively much lower concentrations.

Male subjects taking part in similar tests never improved their ability to identify odours with experience.
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