Is There Anything Good About Men?

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Roy Baumeister's paper analyzes some of the popular and feminist views of the differences between men and women.

Men and women are the same--or at least pretty much the same--in many ways, but only when you look at averages. They are different in an important way: there's a lot more variation in men than in women. There are more men in positions of power than women for example--which leads feminists to cry 'patriarchy.' But there are also more men who are homeless and in jail. There are more men who are geniuses, but there also more who are what we used to call retarded. And so on.

The reasons for the differences are evolutionary: roughly 80% of all women who have ever lived have reproduced, but only about 40% of men. Evolution has wired men in for more risks--including prenatal development risks--and wired women to opt for more safety.

The full paper is here, and well worth the reading.

http://www.psy.fsu.edu/~baumeistertice/goodaboutmen.htm

The author has done extensive research in self-regulation (he coined the term Ego depletion), irrationality and self-defeating behavior, and the need to belong. His profile on Wikipedia is here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Baumeister