In this age of indiscrimination, there is a lot of objection to gender norms. One of the most common gender norm which remains under debate is ‘men can take more pain than women. ’ There are people who object to it and relate it to nothing more than a misconception. There has been a lot of research carried out in this field and a large number of differences have been brought out over the period of time which confirm that women and men are different not only in their physiology but they are also different from each other from biological and psychological perspectives.It has though been proved with scientific evidence that men are capable of handling more physical and psychological stress and hence men can take more pain. The question however arises that even if it is true that women and men are different from each other but should it affect their social obligations, responsibilities and working in the present diverse environments.
Despite enormous differences between the genders, it has eventually been realized that women are equally capable of performing in professions and tasks which were only considered suitable for men.This paper has therefore been designed to first explain the gender norm then scrutinize major differences between women and men, and towards the end carryout the analysis of this gender norm keeping in view the propagation of the norm, its influence on our life/society and how this gender norm has changed with the passage of time. Explanation of the Gender Norm ‘Men can take more pain than women. ’ This gender norm can be explained from two different perspectives.From physiological point of view, it simply means that men are capable of doing more hardship and can handle tougher jobs which require more physical strength as compared to women.
From psychological perspective, it however has a complex implication. Men can take more pain can imply that men take more interest in the tasks assigned to them, they are more dedicated and have a relatively better professional approach. It can also imply that men are more emotionally stable and can therefore handle stressful situations with more confidence and better judgment.With regard to the physical connotation, there can be no dispute but when we consider this gender norm from psychological perspective, it is worth debatable. Differences between Men and Women Women and men belong to the same form of life on earth. They are not two different creatures from two different planets.
We can not disregard their different genetic composition, but both have their own strong points. Before analyzing their capabilities keeping in view the gender norm under discussion, it is better to understand the major differences between the women and men.From physiological perspective, there could be numerous differences between men and women. Here, we will only talk about the differences which determine or affect the pain tolerance levels. Men are physical stronger than women. The average height of men is much more than the women.
This difference characterizes the amount of physical stress the genders can bear. This anomaly gives an advantage to men with regard to physical strength, speed and power over women. Another major difference is the greater percentage of total muscle mass possessed by the men, which further reinforces their strength and power.Moreover, pelvic structure of women is much wider than the men, which hinders in their movement smoothly and hence men get advantage in running efficiency.
Another major difference in physiology of genders is the size of heart. The heart of average woman is about 25 % smaller than the man, which gives the advantage to man’s heart to pump more blood with each beat. This characteristic enables the man’s heart to pump the same amount of blood with fewer beats than the woman’s heart.Resultantly, men are capable of physically exerting more than women, and women get fatigued earlier than men while performing the same physical task. Men also have larger lungs than women and can therefore have larger capacity to process oxygen than women, hence giving more strength to men while doing some physical task (“Physiological Differences,” 2004).
Research in the field of medical science has also proved that women have lower pain threshold and less tolerance to pain than men (Riley et al. , 1999).Research has also found out that women have higher levels of pain intensity and require more morphine to achieve a similar degree of analgesia and pain relief than men (Cepeda & Carr, 2003). Women also experience pain like headache, musculoskeletal, and abdominal pain for longer duration than men do (Unruh, 1996). With regard to genetic and biological configurations, there have been few differences found between genders.
Scientists decoding the human genome have discovered that there are only 78 genes which separate men from women (BBC, 2003).Moreover, the brain architecture and activity differ between the genders. Latest imaging techniques like Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and the Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) have proved that frontal cortex which controls the cognitive functions and the limbic cortex which is responsible for emotional responses are bulkier in women than in men (LeDoux, 1995). The researchers and scientists are however still very skeptical about the genetic and biological effects on the gender roles since cultural impacts are much too stronger and influential among humans.A research carried out at City University of London however points out that gender differences do have a genetic bearing.
To eliminate the pressure of culture, an experiment was carried out on monkeys and it was discovered that male monkeys were more prone to play with ‘masculine’ toys and female monkeys spent more time with toys typically preferred by females. This research negates the cultural effects and finds out that genetics and biological differences have a deep impact on gender roles (Eysenck, 1990). The more debatable aspect of the gender norm under scrutiny is the psychological difference between women and men.There are number of studies which conclude that women and men have different emotional and psychological traits such as nurturing, competitiveness, academic abilities, communication skills, and aggression. A research carried out by McGill University discovered that serotonin production was a remarkable 52% higher on the average in men than women (LeDoux, 1995).
This discovery helps in identifying the reason for women to be less emotionally stable and more prone to depression than men. The women however possess numerous other advantages from psychological perspective over the men.The strong linguistic abilities, better communication skills and academic abilities are few psychological aspects in which women undoubtedly excel. From the psychological perspective of taking the pain, women have been found equally responsible and painstaking as do the men. In many professional sectors like marketing and social development, women have proved to be better performers than men. Analysis of the Gender Norm ‘men can take more pain than women’ There is little dispute with regard to the physiological and genetic/biological differences between women and men.
Research in the field of science and medicine has provided sufficient evidence to corroborate the fact that men posses more physical strength, have more physical stamina and can run better than women because they are usually taller in height, have bigger hearts and lungs, and small pelvic structure as compared to the women. For the same reason, women and men compete separately in all the sporting events and there are certain physical tasks for which men are better suited. Research in the field of psychological gender differences started since the beginning of 20th century.The research focused on highlighting various psychological differences between the genders and was widely propagated through mass media. It not only captivated the masses but also widened the existing gulf between the genders.
Gender differences got further publicized with the watershed book ‘The Psychology of Sex Differences,’ written by Maccoby and Jacklin’s (1974). This book contained more than 2,000 studies of psychological differences between the genders covering various aspects like personality, abilities, traits, behavior etc.This book strengthened the gender norms and stereotyping of sexes. Another widely publicized research by Deborah Tannen (1991) ‘You Just Don’t Understand: Women and Men in Conversation’ focused on proving that men and women belong to different cultural and linguistic background.
For four years, this book remained on the New York Times bestseller list (AnnOnline, 2005). John Gray’s 1992 book of ‘Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus,’ became another milestone in giving strength to the gender norms. This book sold over 30 million copies and has been translated into 40 languages (Gray, 2005).The research of this kind which received wide publicity through print and electronic media helped in establishing that women and men are two different creatures thereby signifying that both the genders have different traits and personalities. It definitely had serious repercussions.
The cost of such an over inflated claims was not only restricted to academic domains but it started advocating different roles for different genders while living in the same society. It not only affected the work preferences by the genders but also dictated parenting and relationship models.Another major cost of such claims reinforced the gender stereotyping like men can take more pain and women are more caring but not emotionally stable thereby suggesting specific tasks and societal roles for specific genders. The research of gender similarities has though not yet well received in the society but is gaining momentum with the passage of time.
The importance of context in creating, erasing, or even reversing psychological gender differences is now being emphasized at various levels.The gender similarities hypothesis which advocates that women and men are psychologically the same except for few differences is helping in brining the genders together. Women have now entered in fields which were only considered to be the men’s domain. Women are flying fighter jets, they are part of space missions, they are managers of mega projects, they are helping in protecting the wild life and they are diving into deep seas.
Similarly, men are also doing jobs which were only women specific like nursing and child care.In nutshell, the gender norms specially related to the men capable of taking more pain than women is slowly but gradually losing its impetus. The time itself has proved the fact that women and men belong to the same planet, same culture, and are two different forms of the same specie. Conclusion The gender norms are merely the unproven theories and originated from the era when men were in charge of everything. Even in the modern times, various researchers helped in strengthening this fallacy. The gender norms such as ‘men can take more pain than women’ had serious consequences and eventually dictated different roles for different genders.
This paper focused on bringing out the facts that women and men may have physiological or biological differences but both the genders are not much different psychologically. The time itself has eliminated the gender stereotyping and women are now in every field competing men on the basis of intellect. Therefore the gender norm ‘men can take more pain than women’ may be true when we talk of its physiological implication but it is far from the truth when we consider it from psychological perspective.
