Email
Print
Gender differences can lead to frustration
ADVERTISEMENT
Published: October 2, 2008
In Part One of this article, we examined some research on the different brain structures of the two genders. These differences often cause conflicts between spouses since women can multitask and men have difficulty focusing on more than one thing at a time.
Today, we will look at the second part of that research, "Why Women Can't Read Maps." I am not sure who made the gender rule about driving, but in our society husbands do most of the driving, especially on trips. This leaves the navigation job to the wife.
Many an argument has erupted when the husband asks his wife to get the map out of the glove compartment and tell him where to turn next. The first thing the wife is likely to do is to stare at the map for long periods of time. This makes the husband frustrated. He might say to her, "Are you going to tell me today or tomorrow?" Or she might turn the map upside down and he will say, "Why are you turning the map upside down?" Sooner or later she may throw the map at him and say, "Read it yourself, you smart a—!"
The ability to read maps and parallel park a car are called "spatial skills." There is a part of the right brain which controls this function. Either biology or adaptation has given men a decided advantage over women in this area of the brain.
Some researchers point again to the roles men and women have played in society which may account for the differences. Since men developed as hunters, they had to be able to estimate the speed of a moving animal in order to throw a spear or shoot an arrow to kill the animal for family food. All these tasks use spatial functions. Women, in general, did not need spatial functions to survive.
When men and women are performing spatial tasks, MRIs show that men have approximately 16 lighted (indicating brain activity) areas of the brain, while women only have four. Reading a map, parking a car, packing the trunk of a car, and judging if a piece of furniture will fit into a certain space are all tasks which require spatial skills. Since the brain structure of women is different from men, this accounts for the some of the difficulties women have with these tasks.
This has absolutely nothing to do with intelligence. It is about brain structure. This difference in spatial ability also explains why fewer women are drawn to professions such as architecture, engineering, piloting, computer science or air traffic controllers.
Please note that there are always exceptions and you might be a man who can multitask or a woman who can read maps. This data is about men and women in general. For instance, we can say that men are generally taller than women. However, you may enter a conference room full of people and the tallest person in the room is a woman. Men can work at multitasking and women can learn to use spatial skills but it takes a lot of work for both.
Since husbands can't multitask as well as wives and wives can't judge space as well as husbands, there is no need to fight over the differences. A better way to deal with the differences is to understand each other's limitations and give each other some slack. These differences are all the more reason to work together as a team, building on each other's strengths.
Dr. Bill Mitcham is the Director/Therapist at The Marriage Maintenance Center, 1375 Lenoir-Rhyne Blvd., Piedmont Center Suite 122, Hickory, NC, 28602. He is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. Call 828-328-8808 or email at bmitcham@bellsouth.net.
Email
Print
ADVERTISEMENT
Advertisement
