Through out history there have been efforts to stand superiority between the two genders this world inhabits. There had been endless debate about establishing men being superior or women inferior. Researchers spend time and effort to reach concrete results but nothing seems satisfying any of the hypothesis. The conflict is whether women could be accepted as being smarter or not.
If a general analysis is being performed where habits and activities of women are observed, one could easily deduce that women are obviously more detail oriented and require in-depth knowledge of what so ever tasks they have undertaken. Men on the other hand, normally overlook minor details. From the normal, day-to-day based activities carried out by both the genders, it is evident that women pay more attention toward smallest of the details and tend to be perfectionists.
For instance, when we talk about self grooming and appearance, the way women could take care of almost all the details associated with one’s personality no man has ever proved to be. This trait is common to all the women irrespective of their race, cast, culture or nationality. When women concentrate on a certain task they try to double check all the activities with great care and attention which indicates that women are extremely self conscious. It has also been observed that their excellence is being contributed by their self consciousness rather than their ambition. Several studies indicate that women have proved to be academically better achievers than men.
Numerous studies across the world have been conducted to analyze the claim and such pattern could be observed anywhere in the world. The fact that could easily be established is that when a woman in any society is being provided an opportunity she tries to put in all possible efforts to prove her self. No matter what era she lives in or what part of earth she belongs to, her intelligence and capability has always been questioned and in order to show the society her capabilities and potential a woman divulges herself in the hard work. That is where women around the world have made their marks.
There are various scientific researches being carried out around the globe where scientists around the world have carried different surveys and tests to analyze which gender is more intelligent or smart. One such research has been carried by a British researcher John Philippe Rushton who claims that the reason for women failing to succeed at certain disciplines or careers is not because of them being devoid of opportunities or gender discrimination rather is has been contributed by their inferior intelligence. To come up with this conclusion a test was carried out at University of Western Ontario where an aptitude test was taken and 100,000 students aged 17-18 participated.
The prime factors that influence a person’s intelligence include his/her ability to quickly grasp a complex concept, verbal reasoning skills and creativity. The tests revealed that the male teenagers had IQs that were an average of 3.63 points higher. The same researcher in his answer to girls being greater achievers in academia reveals that according to his opinion the faster maturing of girls leads to them outshining boys in the classroom (Clerkin & Macrae, Men are more intelligent than women).
Other studies in different parts of the world reveal similar results, girls seems to acquire mid-range IQs where as boys fall in the two extreme ranges of IQs. Girls generally show high verbal ability and perform best when the tasks require average intelligence. Some researchers suggest that since men have bigger brains they are smart because having bigger brain means one has more neurons and better performing capabilities. To address the issue, Francis Aranha writes:
Whatever the differences in brain sizes and quantity of grey matter, the fact is that while women may have smaller brains than men, they appear to have greater neuron density in their prefrontal lobe, the area involved in higher functions such as planning, judgment, and language, although men still have higher absolute grey matter volume than women in their prefrontal lobe. (Are women smarter than men)
No doubts its not the brain size that counts. Many genius around the world were small men having small brain size. Famous French writer Anatole France had the brain size of just 2.24 pounds where as there had been dumber men having a brain size crossing the size of almost 4 pounds. If the brain size theory could be given some weight all these people would have shown far better intelligence than the French writer just mentioned.
The fact that there is the presence of more men in science and technology than women is also used against women being smart. It’s been considered that only bright people enter scientific research and studies and less presence of women is signifies as a lack in their capabilities. One very important consideration to be made is that women are more temperamental and they make more emotional decisions. Their decisions demonstrate their feminine nature not their dumbness.
A major aspect of this gender that has to be taken into the notice is that no woman has ever been a dictator, any where in the world. Females due to their nature take less initiative to go in search of dubious success. If women take lesser interest in the fields where what is required is ruthless dominations one could easily observe the lack in the number of women present but no one question it. A woman is smart enough to despise such occupations and disciplines where her loving and caring nature is exploited and she has to run after selfish motives and mundane fame. It’s not that such actions extinct in women behaviors but rather they are extremely less where as they are too common in men.
The whole debate indicates that smartness or intelligence has no fixed boundaries where it could be confined. Men and women both in their own capacity have certain traits and capabilities. Each individual should be judged irrespective of its gender. World has dynamic individuals some are smarter than others but each is respectable in their own place. When a very intellectual couple was asked similar questions:
PARADE columnist Marilyn vos Savant and her husband, Dr. Robert Jarvik, instinctively point to each other. Marilyn, of course, was in the Guinness Book for having the highest IQ ever recorded. But Dr. Jarvik—inventor of the Jarvik-7 and Jarvik-2000 artificial hearts, used to support patients with congestive heart failure—is no intellectual lightweight either. What do they talk about over dinner? “Medicine and world affairs are the main topics of discussion,” says Marilyn. “For entertainment, we love music, dance and going to movies.” Both are avid runners but don’t enjoy sports and never play games. Marilyn adds, “Rob is more competitive than I am—but, then again, everybody is!” (Savant, Are Men Smarter than Women?)
People have compared set of individuals on different grounds. But the comparison has always been of greater challenge because the variables needs to be taken care of are too many when it comes to deduce concrete results. A human being is one of the most complex species on earth and understanding his behavior based on set of rules is more of a tedious and a task that needs great care.
The fact that women around the world work hard and fight every hurdle in order to achieve what they have in their minds is not hidden from any one. Some times they do it with their intelligence and sometimes with their extreme intensified efforts. But efforts towards anything are what count most. With effort and experience one gets smart. It’s nothing you are born with. A human being is very less what genetically he/she is but is what his environment or experience has moulded him/her to be.
Some times the exposure and education make people develop intelligence and mostly they help them sharpen their own intellectual capabilities. The phenomenon is for all there is no limit of being men or women. The comparison is not as simple both genders have their own abilities and natural tendencies. They should be judged independently with more emphasis given to their talents and performance accordingly. A comparison in this case is actually like comparing apples to oranges.
Work Cited
Aranha, Francis. “Are women smarter than men”. Noida. First Published: 12:54 IST. (2007).Hindustan Times. Web.
Clerkin Ben, Macrae Fiona. “Men are more intelligent than women”. 2006. Web.
Savant vos Marilyn. “Are Men Smarter Than Women”. 2005. Web.