THE STRONGER SEX

The science of what makes men and women different.

Women have long been considered the weaker sex, but their bodies outperform men’s in myriad ways, including in immunity, flexibility, and longevity, argues science writer Vartan. Growing up with her grandmother, who taught her to shoot and whose favorite target was squirrels eating her birdseed, Vartan learned early that women’s strengths are many. Female bodies are “extremely understudied and poorly understood,” she writes. But what research there is sheds light on the role of practice and training in developing athletes and how cultural norms influence how societies have viewed women over time. Among hunter-gatherers, men were superior in power (e.g., spear throwing) and short-distance speed, while women excelled in endurance and shooting accuracy. In modern times, men’s superior strength in throwing, for example, can come down to the amount of practice boys and men get in their young lives, not inherent skill, power, or testosterone. The book considers the impact of widely held beliefs, such as men being better at spatial tasks. Vartan finds research that “simply telling a group of women that they could best the men…improved their scores.” Vartan also asserts that “demeaning language” about menstruation and women’s reproductive organs is linked to a “lack of interest in studying women’s bodies more broadly.” Far from a constant comparison between male and female, the author delves into issues facing women, like endometrial pain, periods, and childbirth. Citing a broad mix of cultural and scientific examinations, by book’s end, Vartan calls for a more nuanced understanding of female power and concludes that a future beckons in which men and women play sports together, rather than in separately gendered groups, where prowess is based on skill, not sex.

An expansive review of research and cultural history, showcasing how women are strong—yet misunderstood.