# The Difference Between Men & Women **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 19, 2003, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-difference-between-men-women/183009 "2003-06-19T21:54:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Alien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/57b2e6/32.png) [@Alien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alien)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-difference-between-men-women/183009/21 "2003-06-20T03:10:46Z")
When men say something they mean it, when women say something they mean something else. ---
**Author:** ![popgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4da419/32.png) [@popgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/popgirl)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-difference-between-men-women/183009/22 "2003-06-20T03:58:19Z")
Women like to play with men’s minds, and men like it… I think… ---
**Author:** ![Blonde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Blonde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blonde)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-difference-between-men-women/183009/23 "2003-06-20T04:05:13Z")
Hey, **popgirl** - welcome! I think they like the chase, as we do. Men/women difference #20+: we can watch one TV channel for more than 5 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Wearia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/13edae/32.png) [@Wearia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wearia)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-difference-between-men-women/183009/24 "2003-06-20T04:40:47Z")
Women gestate, lactate and menstruate. Men don’t. ---
**Author:** ![elfbabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b782af/32.png) [@elfbabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfbabe)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-difference-between-men-women/183009/25 "2003-06-20T04:51:39Z")
Men are hairier, but women usually shave more surface area anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-difference-between-men-women/183009/26 "2003-06-20T05:23:18Z")
Women can watch the movie “she’s about to marry a rich snob, but then she meets a quirky new stranger/old flame, _which one will she pick?_” over and over under different titles. Men can watch the movie “he’s a rebel with a machine gun and a sports car, _will he foil the evil plot?_” over and over under different titles. ---
**Author:** ![Tir\_Tinuviel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@Tir\_Tinuviel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tir_Tinuviel)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-difference-between-men-women/183009/27 "2003-06-20T10:06:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Fear Itself \* > \*\*NPR did a story on _Morning Edition_ today about the Y chromosome. It turns out that men and women share only 98.5% of genetic material, roughly the same as the difference between a man and a chimpanzee. \*\* Ahhh, right, so women are 1.5% more evolved than men? Thought as much… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Sock\_Munkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Sock\_Munkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sock_Munkey)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-difference-between-men-women/183009/28 "2003-06-20T11:22:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by catsix \* > \*\*[qupte] **Blonde** said: > And now, 20 million women who love porn and masturbate 10 times a day will pipe in. You guys don’t have to thank me all at once. Woman #1 who loves porn and masturbates 10 times a day checking in. 19,999,999 women to go. 😉 \*\* [/QUOTE] A woman who admits to loving porn and masturbating usually attracts the interest of men while the reverse is usually not true. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![elfje](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19b73/32.png) [@elfje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfje)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-difference-between-men-women/183009/29 "2003-06-20T11:59:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Blonde \* > \*\*Hee Hee. Well, I guess it’s up to us. Name the #1 difference between men and women, in 10 words or less. \*\* apparantly, it’s only 78 genes. all humans start off as females. Men are just women that got away 😃 and here’s a link to prove my point: > **[UNISON PROCESSING EQUIPMENT](https://unison.ie)** > > Homogenisers, Pasteurisers, Heat Exchanges, Pump & Valve, Servicing, Spare Parts. Unison Engineering is the UK's Leading Supplier of Processing Equipment for the Dairy, Beverage, Liquid & Pharmaceutical Processing Industries. 24/7 on-call... relish, ladies, relish 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_great_unwashed/32/4791_2.png) [@The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Great_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-difference-between-men-women/183009/30 "2003-06-20T12:03:46Z")
Wo ---
**Author:** ![elfje](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19b73/32.png) [@elfje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfje)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-difference-between-men-women/183009/31 "2003-06-20T12:04:38Z")
speechless? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_great_unwashed/32/4791_2.png) [@The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Great_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-difference-between-men-women/183009/32 "2003-06-20T12:04:53Z")
Sorry, my last post was upside dowm, I meant: **Om** ::chills:: ---
**Author:** ![pencilpusher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d6d6ee/32.png) [@pencilpusher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pencilpusher)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-difference-between-men-women/183009/33 "2003-06-20T12:10:32Z")
well I can see one difference… Men MAKE babies, women HAVE them (and yes I’m talking about their husbands/boyfriends also 😛 ) ---
**Author:** ![elfje](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19b73/32.png) [@elfje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfje)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-difference-between-men-women/183009/34 "2003-06-20T12:25:30Z")
errr, no. Men can have them, too. Women “give birth”, though, I agree with that. and the making of the babies, well, as far as I know, two people need to be involved in that. The guy and the gal. Not just men ---
**Author:** ![pencilpusher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d6d6ee/32.png) [@pencilpusher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pencilpusher)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-difference-between-men-women/183009/35 "2003-06-20T12:40:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by elfje \* > \*\*errr, no. > Men can have them, too. > > Women “give birth”, though, I agree with that. > > and the making of the babies, well, as far as I know, two people need to be involved in that. The guy and the gal. > Not just men \*\* I ment biologically of course. Men can’t “HAVE” (give birth) babies but they can “MAKE” (impregnate a woman and leave with no strings attached on some instances) a baby. It’s a no brainer that it takes 2 people to create life :smack: ---
**Author:** ![IzzyR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/2acd7d/32.png) [@IzzyR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IzzyR)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-difference-between-men-women/183009/36 "2003-06-20T12:42:13Z")
Sorry, guys - I put this in just before I left the office last night. It was taking a while to load, and I shut off the computer, thinking it had gone through. :o * * * Not sure if this is a debate. [Men’s Survival Secret: Bending Y Chromosome](http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/19/science/19GENE.html?pagewanted=all&position=) > [@](#): > > The finding of 78 active genes on the Y contradicts an earlier impression of the chromosome as being a genetic wasteland apart from its male-determining gene. But if the Y is not a wasteland, important consequences ensue for the differences between men and women. > > As often noted, the genomes of humans and chimpanzees are 98.5 percent identical, when each of their three billion DNA units are compared. But what of men and women, who have different chromosomes? > > Until now, biologists have said that makes no difference, because there are almost no genes on the Y, and in women one of the two X chromosomes is inactivated, so that both men and women have one working X chromosome. > > But researchers have recently found that several hundred genes on the X escape inactivation. Taking those genes into account along with the new tally of Y genes gives this result: Men and women differ by 1 to 2 percent of their genomes, Dr. Page said, which is the same as the difference between a man and a male chimpanzee or between a woman and a female chimpanzee. > > Almost all male-female differences, whether in cognition, behavior, anatomy or susceptibility to disease, have usually been attributed to the sex hormones. But given the genomic differences that are now apparent, that premise has to be re-examined, in Dr. Page’s view. > > “We all recite the mantra that we are 99 percent identical and take political comfort in it,” Dr. Page said. “But the reality is that the genetic difference between males and females absolutely dwarfs all other differences in the human genome.” > > Dr. Rice commented that he would have to think through this argument, noting that many genes - up to 15 percent in some animals - are more active in one sex than the other. These differences in gene activity might dwarf the genomic differences described by Dr. Page, he said. > > Another difference that has emerged between men and women concerns their ribosomes, the numerous small engines in the cell that build its working parts from the instructions in the genes. A general purpose gene on the Y makes a ribosome component. Its counterpart gene on the X makes a slightly different protein. > > That means that every ribosome in a man’s body is slightly different from those in a woman’s. Though the difference is pervasive, Dr. Page said, it was not known what significance it may have, if any. Question is what the significance is for the baseline assumptions about observed differences between boys/men and women/girls? IWSTM that the greater the observed genetic difference is, the less one can rely on a null hypothesis of equality with regards to a given issue. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-difference-between-men-women/183009/37 "2003-06-20T14:19:05Z")
Should it be any surprise that the genetic differences between the sexes are greater than any other genetic difference? There are major body plan differences, to begin with. Plus, we’ve known for decades that the Y chromosome is miniscule compared to the others. We only have 46 chromosomes (23 pairs), so it if one is smaller by even half, that would imply a \> 1% difference. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-difference-between-men-women/183009/38 "2003-06-20T15:33:43Z")
See my sig for the real difference between men and women. ---
**Author:** ![obo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ba8739/32.png) [@obo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obo)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-difference-between-men-women/183009/39 "2003-06-20T15:39:24Z")
Women allways use old worn out cliches about men ---
**Author:** ![obo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ba8739/32.png) [@obo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obo)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-difference-between-men-women/183009/40 "2003-06-20T15:42:56Z")
Padmaraga ::Women can admit they don’t know the answer. Men love a good joke [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-difference-between-men-women/183009.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-difference-between-men-women/183009.md?page=3)