The Famous Rainham Diamond Necklace

Dianne and John are in the cellar. They are searching for the famous Rainham Diamond Necklace. They've been tipped-off that it's hidden somewhere down here; in the cellar. Finding it isn't going to be easy. The unlit room is full of junk. Dianne has a torch with very low power but its weak beam lights a wide area. John also has a torch but, although powerful, it lights just a small area. It leaves the rest of the room in darkness. Dianne suggests they use her torch but John argues that his torch is more likely to assist their search. What a silly story I hear you say; why don't they use both torches?  Why don't they indeed!

The strength of the female brain is that it tends to illuminate the world broadly but tends to sacrifice detail. The strength of the male brain is that it tends to be bright/ sharply focused but very narrow.

I simply want to suggest that we always use both torches!

This doesn't only apply when making decisions in heterosexual relationships. It has implications in boardrooms and politics too. Whenever and wherever decisions are made, it pays to get both a male and a female perspective on the issues involved.

Men are stronger, taller and faster than women. Right?

Men are stronger, taller and faster than women. Right? Of course not right! Try again. Men tend to be stronger, taller and faster than women. Right? Of course right! There are evident differences between the sexes but they are tendencies; not immutable and universal facts. Psychologists have found that these 'tendencies for sexual difference' are not just physical; they are also mental. Men tend to be more narrowly focused than women. Women do tend to be better at multi-tasking. Men tend to be more systematic in their thinking than women. Women tend to be more empathetic than men. I could go on.

In summary: men and women should obviously have equal rights but men and women are not the same.

There are important consequences to these observations. If more boys than girls chose to opt to study the physical sciences, we need be neither surprised nor concerned. If more women than men chose to nurture the children, we need be neither surprised nor concerned. If we find more men than women choosing a political career, likewise. If we find more women than men choosing to become nurses, so not surprising.

Society and, in particular feminists, needs to stop fretting about these differences in outcome for men and women. They are unsurprising when seen in the light of the different tendencies of the sexes; both physical and psychological.