The Fairer Sex

The title is bestowed upon the sex that is weaker; more frail. Experts would clamour to place both on the same types of scales and compare the both criteria for criteria.

Which is the more physical? Men
Which is the more aggressive? Men
Which is the more emotional? Women
Which is the better listener? Women

Or thus the stereotype goes. Yet, in instance after instance, it is always the boy who pursues the girl. Sure, a girl might fall for a guy, but never desperately enough that she would take the first step; in most cases, to be fair. So the question is: who then needs who?

A friend once related the difference between the male and female groups to me. A male group would gladly allow one member to break away if it is for a girl; yet, the converse is not true. I have to admit that I have no idea about the validity of this tale. Yet, it does seem that as boys get older, they tend to become more protective of the girls in their midst.

As if they were the stronger sex.

However, detach yourself momentarily from emotions and just watch. You will eventually come to realise that men have this strange innate desire to need to feel needed; they need to feel like they mean something. Women, on the other hand, have been largely content with taking the back seat, silently supportive. It is not their weakness that keeps them second-best but rather their strength that they are able to hold back.

Who then is fairer -- him who has such irrepressible, selfish emotional needs or her who is physically more frail?

Or perhaps, if I might be so bold, there is none that is entirely fairer. Men lose out to women in some areas, but win in others. To attempt to compare the two is akin to doing the same for an apple and a banana. As a mother once charmingly told me, if you ever can understand a woman, then she is no lady. To which I could only muse that surely someone must understand girls, if even once in a while. She also told me a lot of other things, the most striking of which was that men were so logical only because they have a reduced capacity for emotion. The reason why we tend to rationalise our emotions is because we do not know how to deal with it, and breaking it down into chemical and psychological reactions make it a lot easier to accept.

Perhaps this is true; perhaps not.

Yet, would it matter? Would we bow to such expert studies and set up boundaries to conform to studies? That would be rather counter-intuitive, for studies ought to be shaped by human behaviour and not vice versa.

What then is the conclusion of the matter? Truthfully, there is none; I just wanted to discuss the issue.