# What can men do that women can't? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 10, 2000, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-men-do-that-women-cant/25140 "2000-07-10T19:47:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2000, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-men-do-that-women-cant/25140/41 "2000-07-12T16:26:36Z")
Max Torque wrote: > [@](#): > > Hold your left arm straight out in front of you, parallel to the ground. Make a fist with your palm facing inward and your thumb pointing up. > > The inside of your elbow will be either facing up or inward. Keeping your arm straight, rotate your elbow from one position to the other, without changing the orientation of your fist. What the heck, go back and forth a few times. When I do this, I keep hitting myself in the chin with my fist. (Maybe that’s why men can do this better than women – women aren’t stupid enough to keep punching themselves.) ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2000, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-men-do-that-women-cant/25140/42 "2000-07-12T16:34:48Z")
matt (not matt\_mcl) wrote: > [@](#): > > The ultra-long distance swimming is theoretical - women’s greater body fat percentage means that if an endurance event is made long enough, women should win. Don’t know if this is carried through in practice though - you have to swim a LONG way to run out of fat. There’s another swimming advantage to be gained by having a higher body fat percentage. Body fat helps you float on water. A super-lean swimmer is going to be spending some of his energy just staying afloat. A tubbo like myself can float on the surface of the water without any effort at all. True, in ultra-long-distance swimming you’re always moving forward at some rate, but still, a heavier-than-water swimmer is going to generate a little bit of extra water drag by the action of the water lifting his body (just as an airplane wing generates incident-drag whenever it generates lift). ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2000, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-men-do-that-women-cant/25140/43 "2000-07-12T18:39:48Z")
Women do hold many of the long distance ocean swimming records, and I believe the 24 hour distance record as well. And distribution of body fat contributes to the fact that women do so well in long distance swimming. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2000, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-men-do-that-women-cant/25140/44 "2000-07-12T19:57:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tracer \* > \*\*When I do this, I keep hitting myself in the chin with my fist. > > (Maybe that’s why men can do this better than women – women aren’t stupid enough to keep punching themselves.) \*\* hehe…I think you misunderstood the instructions. By “rotate from one position to the other” I meant “rotate your elbow from the open-end-up position to the open-end-inward position (or the other way 'round)”, not to bend your elbow. I think you missed the “keeping your arm straight” part of the instruction…either that, or you have some extremely short arms. ---
**Author:** ![tradesilicon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/439d5e/32.png) [@tradesilicon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tradesilicon)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2000, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-men-do-that-women-cant/25140/45 "2000-07-12T20:37:15Z")
Well, for one, most men can pass by a Sale without buying stuff they never needed to buy except it was 50% off. Most women do not drink alcohol at college parties until they turn green and puke on the rugs. To all those men who claim superior athletic ability, have you ever watched Xena? She’ll kick all your asses without messing up her lipstick. Not to hijack the thread, but would we see more differences if we ask what Most Women and Most Men are better at? I think the male is superior in emotional expression when it comes to his favorite sport, while the female is athletically superior when swooshing though the isles of a department store during an 8 hour sale. ---
**Author:** ![Ceejaytee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ceejaytee/32/2956_2.png) [@Ceejaytee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ceejaytee)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2000, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-men-do-that-women-cant/25140/46 "2000-07-12T20:46:30Z")
Max wrote > [@](#): > > …a man can father ten … children simultaneously, with different women. Men can also father children when they’re very old but women can’t conceive indefinitely (well, not without massive drugs anyway). Then the 80-year old man drops dead and leaves his fertile young wife alone to raise his kid while she fights off men who are after her incredibly large fortune, which she was smart enough to get in return for sleeping with the dirty old guy in the first place. Uh, what was the question? ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2000, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-men-do-that-women-cant/25140/47 "2000-07-12T21:34:47Z")
tradesilicon wrote: > [@](#): > > Well, for one, most men can pass by a Sale without buying stuff they never needed to buy except it was 50% off. Not me. Tower Records used to be in the laserdisc business, selling those gigantic 12-inch optical video discs with movies recorded on them (these have since been supplanted by DVDs). When my local Tower Records got out of the laserdisc business and sold off most of its laserdisc inventory for $14.95 a pop, I bought 33 laserdisc movies from them. Including _Super Mario Brothers_. And _A Very Brady Sequel_. > [@](#): > > Most women do not drink alcohol at college parties until they turn green and puke on the rugs. Q. What’s a blonde’s mating call? A. I’m soooooo drunk! I’m soooooo drunk! > [@](#): > > To all those men who claim superior athletic ability, have you ever watched Xena? She’ll kick all your asses without messing up her lipstick. I wanna know where Xena gets her make-up and shampoo. I had no idea cosmetic technology was so advanced in ancient Greece. ---
**Author:** ![Dumbguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2bfe46/32.png) [@Dumbguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dumbguy)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2000, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-men-do-that-women-cant/25140/48 "2000-07-12T23:40:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SPOOFE Bo Diddly \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > What can men do that women can’t? > > Simple: Rule the world. \*\* Look closer. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2000, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-men-do-that-women-cant/25140/49 "2000-07-12T23:47:47Z")
Men can program a vcr, fix a computer, know how much gas goes in the truck, read a car manual, ignore people when someone is talking; but best of all, they can write messages on things they can do that women can’t. wo ‘men’ ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2000, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-men-do-that-women-cant/25140/50 "2000-07-12T23:51:12Z")
Note to Esprix: Men can give birth. It’s technically possible, the baby grows as like a tumor on an organ. They can even breast feed. Token sexual remark: A woman’s sexual organs arent long enough to reach the tonsils & mans are. ---
**Author:** ![oldscratch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ed655f/32.png) [@oldscratch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oldscratch)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2000, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-men-do-that-women-cant/25140/51 "2000-07-13T00:44:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by handy \* > \*\* > > Token sexual remark: A woman’s sexual organs arent long enough to reach the tonsils & mans are. > > \*\* That’s not true. Clitoris can be stretched. As well as labia. ---
**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:** [July 13, 2000, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-men-do-that-women-cant/25140/52 "2000-07-13T02:19:21Z")
I just asked two girls to try **Max Torque** ’s arm thing, and they both say they can do it with ease. Of course, I didn’t watch them do it, so they might just be lying. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![capacitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@capacitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capacitor)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2000, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-men-do-that-women-cant/25140/53 "2000-07-13T04:43:36Z")
You want a citation on women swiming long distances? Here are some: [Alison Streeter, the Queen of the English Channel](http://www.bbc.co.uk/info/passions/swimmer.shtml). She crossed it 36 times swimming. No one else is close. ---
**Author:** ![QTpie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/5daacb/32.png) [@QTpie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QTpie)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2000, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-men-do-that-women-cant/25140/54 "2000-07-13T06:17:50Z")
Men can get hard, well most of them anyways 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Feynn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecb155/32.png) [@Feynn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Feynn)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2000, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-men-do-that-women-cant/25140/55 "2000-07-13T07:05:13Z")
What can men do that women can’t? After you rule out biological differences there isn’t much. In general, men are stronger due to a difference in structure and their muscle to weight ratio. There are exceptions. We have this discussion often in our house and what the girls tell me is that women can multitask much better than men and I would agree. This is why men don’t like to be talked to during their favourite television shows, it derials their train of thought. I can multitask but it is a concious effort for me to do so. If I am engrossed in something I can tune out just about any external distraction. The girls tell me that they sometimes wish they had this ability. ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2000, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-men-do-that-women-cant/25140/56 "2000-07-13T08:57:10Z")
Men, and ONLY men, can truly understand the hellish agony of being kicked in the balls. This ignores hermaphrodites, of course. ---
**Author:** ![NiceGuyJack](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/niceguyjack/32/3069_2.png) [@NiceGuyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NiceGuyJack)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2000, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-men-do-that-women-cant/25140/57 "2000-07-13T11:21:47Z")
> [@](#): > > What can men do that women can’t? Only men can become Eunuchs. ---
**Author:** ![PeeQueue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8797f3/32.png) [@PeeQueue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PeeQueue)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2000, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-men-do-that-women-cant/25140/58 "2000-07-13T15:16:53Z")
> [@](#): > > She crossed it 36 times swimming. No one else comes close. She crossed it 36 different times. Plenty of people have swam (swum? hehe) the channel. She just likes to do it more than others. Now if she could swim across and back 36 times _without resting_, that would be something! PeeQueue ---
**Author:** ![Esprix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/esprix/32/7899_2.png) [@Esprix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esprix)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2000, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-men-do-that-women-cant/25140/59 "2000-07-13T16:51:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by handy \* > > Note to Esprix: Men can give birth. It’s technically possible, the baby grows as like a tumor on an organ. > They can even breast feed. Yes, I know, but I excluded technical interference in the OP (or the second post, one of those). This is all very interesting. Mostly everyone’s talking about things that both men and women can do, just one might do it better than the other. Either that, or people are talking about one thing that the other has in equivalent, such as men produce sperm, but women produce eggs. Esprix ---
**Author:** ![oldscratch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ed655f/32.png) [@oldscratch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oldscratch)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2000, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-men-do-that-women-cant/25140/60 "2000-07-13T16:57:50Z")
I think the answer, my dear Esprix, is nothing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-men-do-that-women-cant/25140.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-men-do-that-women-cant/25140.md?page=4)