The male to female ratio

Scientific, Medical, and factual information about the differences between boys and girls!

Appearances

* On average, men are taller than woman (See sexual dimorphism)
* Men usually have more body hair than women.
* Men’s skin is thicker (more collagen) and oilier (more sebum) than women’s skin[1].
* Women generally have a smaller waist-hip ratio; that is, their waists are smaller by comparison with their hips.
* In men, the second digit (index finger) tends to be shorter than the fourth digit (ring finger), while in females the second tends to be longer than the fourth (see digit ratio).

Health

* Women generally have a higher body fat percentage than men.
* Women usually have lower blood pressure than men, and womens’ hearts beat faster, even when they’re asleep.
* On average, men are stronger than women, particularly in the upper body.
* Female fertility declines after age 35 and ends with the menopause. Men are capable of fathering children into old age.
* Men and women have different levels of certain hormones. Men have a higher concentration of androgens while women have a higher concentration of estrogens.
* On average, girls begin puberty approximately two years before boys.

Neurological

* On average, male brains have approximately 4% more cells and 100 grams more brain tissue than females do. However, both sexes have similar brain weight to body weight ratios. Men have larger left inferior parietal lobes, while women have proportionally larger Wernicke’s and Broca’s areas (both used primarily for communication, speech, comprehension, and language skills). Evidence of gender differences in the size of the corpus callosum is ambiguous.
* Women generally have faster blood flow to their brains and lose less brain tissue as they age than men do.

Health

Women live longer than men in most countries (notable exceptions are Afghanistan and Pakistan)[7]. The gender gap is decreasing in many developed countries as more women take up unhealthy practices that were once considered masculine like smoking and drinking[8], and more men practice healthier living. In Russia, however, the gender gap has been increasing as male life expectancy declines [9].

The World Health Organization (WHO) has produced a number of reports on gender and health [10]. The following trends are shown:

* Overall rates of mental illness are similar for men and women. There is no significant gender difference in rates of schizophrenia and bipolar depression. Women are more likely to suffer from unipolar depression, anxiety, eating disorders, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Men are more likely to suffer from alcoholism and antisocial personality disorder.
* Worldwide, more men than women are infected with HIV. The exception is sub-Saharan Africa, where more women than men are infected.
* Adult males are more likely to be diagnosed with tuberculosis.
* Before menopause, women are less likely to suffer from cardiovascular disease. However, after age 60, the risk for both men and women is the same.
* Overall, men are more likely to suffer from cancer, with much of this driven by lung cancer. In most countries, more men than women smoke, although this gap is narrowing especially among young women.
* Women are twice as likely to be blind than men. In developed countries, this may be linked to higher life expectancy and age-related conditions. In developing countries, women are less likely to get timely treatments for conditions that lead to blindness such as cataracts and trachoma.
* Women are more likely to suffer from osteoarthritis and osteoporosis.
* Worldwide, 2.7 times as many men as women die in traffic accidents.

Psychology
In one large scale study, most cognitive abilities and psychological traits showed little or no average difference between the sexes [11]. Where sex differences exist, there is often considerable overlap between the sexes[12]; in addition, it is unclear how many of these differences hold true across different cultures. Nevertheless, certain trends can be found:

* Men are more physically aggressive. Although women were once held to be less aggressive and competitive overall, modern experts such as Rachel Simmons have suggested that women simply tend to express aggression and competition in less physical ways.
* In many situations, men are more prone to taking risks [13].
* Women express their emotions more readily and report feeling a greater intensity of emotion[14].
* In the big five personality traits, women score higher in Agreeableness (tendency to be compassionate and cooperative) and Neuroticism (tendency to feel anxiety, anger, and depression).
* Demographics of MBTI surveys indicate that 60-75% of women prefer feeling and 55-80% of men prefer thinking[15][16].

[edit] Systemizing and empathizing

Simon Baron-Cohen claims that, in general, men are better at systemizing (the desire to analyze and explore systems and rules) and that women are better at empathizing (the ability to identify with other people’s feelings). More males than females are diagnosed with autism and Asperger syndrome. According to Cohen, since autistic and Asperger individuals are very high in systemizing and very low in empathizing, they are examples of an “extreme male brain” [17].

[edit] Intelligence

Main article: Sex and intelligence

Most studies show no significant difference in the average IQ for men and women. However, on average men perform better on tests of spatial and mathematical ability, while women perform better on tests of verbal ability and memory. Also, men’s IQ has greater variance, that is, there are more men than women in the very high and very low IQ groups, with women’s scores more concentrated around the average.

[edit] Communication

Deborah Tannen’s studies found these gender differences in communication styles [18]:

* Men tend to talk more than women in public situations, but women tend to talk more than men at home.
* Females are more inclined to face each other and make eye contact when talking, while males are more likely to look away from each other.
* Girls and women tend to talk at length about one topic, but boys and men tend to jump from topic to topic.
* When listening, women make more noises such as “mhm” and “uhuh”, while men are more likely to listen silently.
* Women are inclined to express agreement and support, while men are more inclined to debate.

However, not all research supports these claims. One study by Erina MacGeorge found only a 2% difference in the conversational styles of men and women, and reported that in general both sexes communicated in similar ways [19]. Critics, including Suzette Haden Elgin, have suggested that Tannen’s findings may apply more to women of certain specific cultural and economic groups than to women in general.

[edit] Happiness

A commentary released by Pew Research Center addressed some questions about the way men and women view their lives [20] :

* Overall, women are happier than men with their lives, and reported more often that they had made personal progress in the last five years.
* Women show greater concern about family and home life issues, while men express more concern about political issues. Men are happier with their family life and more optimistic about their personal future and that of their children.

[edit] Problems with research

Studies of psychological gender differences are controversial and subject to error. Many small-scale studies report differences that are not repeated in larger studies. Self-report questionnaires are subject to bias, particularly if the subjects are told that the questionnaire is testing for gender roles. It is also possible that commentators may exaggerate or downplay differences for ideological reasons.

Orgasm

* Men’s orgasm is essential for reproduction whereas female orgasm is not.
* Typical male orgasm lasts no more than a couple of seconds, while in women, climaxes of up to a minute are known.
* According to Kinsey, for about 75% of all males, orgasm is attained within the first two minutes after initiation of sexual intercourse. For women the average time to reach orgasm is between 10 and 20 minutes. The swiftness of the male system virtually guarantees climactic orgasms for males but is usually too quick to give the female a penetration-induced orgasm. However, the female orgasm produced by masturbation is more intense and the average time to female orgasm via masturbation is significantly less at four minutes [37] [38].
* Male circumcision (removal of the foreskin) does not prevent the ability to orgasm, but female genital cutting usually does. However, the two procedures are not directly comparable; in particular, the phrase “female genital cutting” is used to refer to a wide variety of different practices, from minor ritual cuts to the labia (which are much less likely to impede orgasm) to complete excision of the clitoris.