Concerning the argument about male/female toughness in relation to size,
does anyone remember the discussion on related matter in _Triton_ by Samuel
Delany? The main character recalls how he was always puzzled by
illustrations in old books, where the woman would always be shorter that
the man. He was wondering why all women in those books were midgets. And
the person he was talking to offered two explanations. One, that a man
would prefer to go out with a woman smaller than himself. ("That would
mean a lot of really unhappy tall women and short men", said Bron. "For
what I heard, there were", said the other guy.) The second explanation
was, that according to some research, parents were 70% less likeky to
pick up a baby, or play or talk to it during the first year of its life if
the baby was female. And since physical contact and attention are so
important for healthy development, this had to affect everything,
including the child's future height and bodyweight. This is on the point
of strength based on physical differences.
Marina
"Femininity is code for femaleness plus whatever society
happens to be selling at the time."
Naomi Wolf
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