16. Men and Women: Some Differences

Men cannot manufacture blood as efficiently as women can. This makes surgery riskier for men. Men also need more oxygen because they do not breathe as often as women. But men breathe more deeply and this exposes them to another risk. When the air is polluted, they draw more of it into their lungs.

A more recent—and chilling—finding is the effect of automobile and truck exhaust fumes on children's intelligence. These exhaust fumes are the greatest source of lead pollution in cities. Researchers have found that the children with the highest concentration of lead in their bodies have the lowest scores on intelligence tests and that boys score lower than girls. It is possible that these low scores are connected to the deeper breathing that is typical of the male.

Men's bones are larger than women's and they are arranged somewhat differently. The feminine walk that evokes so many whistles is a matter of bone structure. Men have broader shoulders and a narrower pelvis, which enables them to stride out with no waste motion. A woman's wider pelvis, designed for child-bearing, forces her to put more movement into each step she takes with the result that she displays a bit of a jiggle and sway as she walks.

If you think a man is brave because he climbs a ladder to clean out the roof gutters, don't forget that it is easier for him than for a woman. The angle at which a woman's thigh is joined to her knees makes climbing awkward for her, no matter whether it is a ladder or stairs or a mountain that she is tackling.

A man's skin is thicker than a woman's and not nearly as soft. The thickness prevents the sun's radiation from getting through, which is why men wrinkle less than women do.

Women have a thin layer of fat just under the skin and there is a plus to this greater fat reserve. It acts as an invisible fur coat to keep a woman warmer in the winter.

Women also stay cooler in summer. The fat layer helps insulate them against heat.

Men's fat is distributed differently. And they do not have that layer of it underneath their skin. In fact, they have considerably less fat than women and more lean mass. Forty-one percent of a man's body is muscle compared to thirty-five percent for women, which means men have more muscle power. When it comes to strength, almost 90 percent of a man's weight is strength compared to about 50 percent of a woman's weight.

The higher proportion of muscle to fat makes it easier for men to lose weight. Muscle burns up five more calories a pound than fat does just to maintain itself. So when a man goes on a diet, the pounds roll off much faster.

For all men's muscularity they do not have the energy reserves women do. They have more start-up energy, but the fat tucked away in women's nooks and crannies provides a rich energy reserve that men lack.

Cardiologists at the University of Alabama who tested healthy women on treadmills discovered that over years the female capacity for exercise far exceeds the male capacity. A woman of sixty who is in good health can exercise up to 90 percent of what she could do when she was twenty. A man of sixty has only 60 percent left of his capacity as a twenty-year-old.