Alan2012 writes:
Bob: “If there is one common sense thing I have learned in life, it is that males are much more aggressive and violent than females at all life stages. It is simply common sense.”The issue is to what extent (if at all) the observed behaviors are intrinsic or hard-wired. It may be “common sense” that the observed behaviors are 100% intrinsic — but that would be the common sense of blind fools. We have no idea how much is intrinsic, and how much is environmental or conditional. If girls rather than boys were given toy guns and tanks, and were expected to participate in violent sports and other activities, would the outcome be the same?
If girls rather than boys were given real guns and tanks, and were expected (even compelled) to go out and KILL for their country, would the outcome be the same? Would there still be a much higher rate of violence for men vs. women? Who knows? Probably not. It would be a matter of degree, and no one knows the degree.
Gender is absolutely not constructed. Gender is a real biological and genetic entity.
Yes the vast differences between males and females in terms of violence and aggression are of course due to males having 7-8X more testosterone than females. Anyone with a brain knows that. Furthermore, the violence is females is typically much more low key, verbal, and petty. Women’s aggression and violence causes very little damage to society. Men’s violence and aggression causes unbelievable damage to society.
Females’ mothering, nurturing and empathetic instinct is inborn. Males have little natural parenting instinct, and low in nurturing and have much less empathy than females. These differences are all inborn.
Yes societies can make men more or less violent than they already are. Some societies have been able to substantially curb males’ violence and aggression or channel it into prosocial forms. These are the societes you see with very low crime rates. But even in these societies, the males can explode at any time into mass organized violence which often causes many more deaths and injuries than unorganized violence.
Societies can also probably encourage females to be more aggressive and violent than they are I suppose.
Why do men act “masculine?” Because it is natural and normal and genetic and biological for them to do so. And testosterone plays a role in masculinity.
Why do women act “feminine?” Because it is natural and normal and genetic and biological for them to do so. Estrogen may play a role in these behaviors or perhaps specific brain structures are involved in typical femininity.
