gengwall

Lin,

Let me try to understand something. Do you believe that males and females were basically androgynous before the fall – possessing identical hormonal levels and brain structures? That hardly seems possible if, as Cheryl has said, they were intended to procreate fall or not.

The reality is that God designed males and females differently. Can anyone deny that? Is it not naive to then believe that those gender specific differences won’t impact how we interact with the world and each other?

It has been my understanding that the “sameness” argument of radical feminism has been demolished by the last 20 years of brain scan and hormone studies. But I guess there are still those who believe we would all act exactly the same despite our “nature” if it weren’t for all that pesky, evil “nurturing” that inundates us from birth forward. If that is the case, then I am quite thankful for such detrimental cultural impacts on our lives. If my wife were just another me, I couldn’t live with her at all, let alone in an understanding way.

Truthseeker said – “The bible is curiously quiet about male/female non-physical characteristics. If it is, then it must be due to the fact that they either don’t exist or they are not germane to biblical topics.”

Neither is true because your premise is false. The bible is chock full of teaching in both the old and new testament about male/female non-physical characteristics as they impact male female relationships, especially the marriage relationship, and 1 Peter 3 is one of the starkest examples. Seriously – do you think 1 Peter 3 is irrelevant if removed from the 1st Century Roman ruled Jewish culture?

Cheryl – you have done some heavy lifting here but I am not sure it will help. I run into the same thing all the time myself. Others are so convinced, despite not only all the anecdotal evidence but a great deal of sound biological and sociological science, that we are all psychological play-doh at birth and everything observed as “different” is really the result of manipulation by that evil boogey-man: culture.

As I mentioned earlier, for those seeking biological and sociological confirmation of our inherent, designed* differences and the impact they have on our relationships, I recommend the following:

“His Brain, Her Brain” by Dr. Walt and Barb Larimore
“Why Men Don’t Listen and Women Can’t Read Maps” by Allan and Barabara Pease
“The Proper Care and Feeding…” series by Dr. Laura Schlessinger
“Brain Sex” by Anne Moir and David Jessel
“The Essential Difference” by Dr. Simon Baron-Cohen

And the huge listing of male/female differences, with references, on the web site of Dr. Arlene R. Taylor – http://www.arlenetaylor.org/brainfacts-references/219-pdf-files

None of these authors support the cultural patriarchal model that some here believe “differences” and culture inevitably lead to. Yet they clearly recognize those differences and attribute them to “nature” over “nurture”. Our culture can’t change our hormonal balance or brain structure any more than it can change our anatomy. Dr. Taylor probably says it best, and in a way that should be to the liking of everyone here, I would think:

Men and women are more alike than they are different. After all they are members of the same species. In truth there may be greater differences between individuals within the same gender than between males and females. Nevertheless, there are [gender specific] differences that need to be recognized, honored, and understood-insofar as it is possible to do so. (from the “Selected Brain Facts, Male-Female Differences” pdf’s found on the web site above)

*Many of these authors, of course, do not recognize “design” as part of the equation. I see no need to quibble about the source of the differences when the conclusions about their impact are the same.