Myths About Gender And Physical Strength

Gender egalitarianism is first and foremost about opposing the stereotypes and other forms of moral or social discrimination facing both women and men, but it has obvious ramifications for how people regard the usefulness of the male and female body.  Indeed, gender stereotypes often circulate precisely because people allow perceived or actual differences in the bodies of men and women to convince them that the minds of men and women must also be different.  Many egalitarians still refuse to correctly address myths about the physical strength of men and women!

Men do not have inherently stronger bodies than women; women do not have inherently weaker bodies than men.  Even if these things were true, the idea that men and women have moral or psychological differences that are not present solely because of social conditioning would still be false--it is simply the case that these ideas about the functional nature of the bodies of men and women are likewise false.  The male and female body may have somewhat different appearances, but this does not translate over to the strength of each type of body.

In a society where men are unjustly used as human beasts of burden and pressured into acting like they want to be treated this way, it should not be surprising if men develop physical strength more overtly than women.  In a society where women are unjustly told that they are too weak for many manual activities, it should not be surprising that women do not develop physical strength as much often as men.  Since a large number of societies have adopted both sets of fallacious ideas, any consistent differences between the physical strength of men and women are not proof that strength is inherent in men and naturally lacking in women.

Some people who would otherwise oppose discrimination against men and women might find themselves supporting myths about gender and strength.  More importantly, though, those who support these myths fail to realize that psychological stereotypes about gender are rooted in errors about the body.  Even when men are understood to not be fixated on sex, they are often told that they cannot be raped or otherwise physically abused by women simply because they are "too strong" to be victimized by women.  Women, too, can have recognition of their psychological status overshadowed by negative ideas about how "weak" they are.

These things should seem obvious to any serious egalitarian, at least upon hearing someone else state them, but scientific misconceptions about the male and female bodies have persisted even in minds that have rejected misconceptions about the personality traits or moral character of men and women.  In order to fully demolish the injustices that accompany gender stereotypes, myths about each gender's physical strength must also be demolished.  Without the latter, the former will only be even more vulnerable to intellectual defeat.