Chapter Seven: Differential Psychology
Woman psychology is very complex and vast, especially with regard to the different states of mind of man and woman. Assessment of identical and different aspects of woman and man is very crucial because though man and woman are both human beings, they have fundamental differences.Examining the woman's mind for finding her diverse aspects needs patient work of expert psychologists.
Some research has been done and books written in this regard. Muslim scholars should continue this line of research in accord with the Islamic teachings to prevent jurists and sociologists from going astray in defining the woman's position. The first issue is the knowing of the undoubted differences and variations shown in the outer appearance of the two genders and proved in scientific studies:
“Biologists believe that man and woman have fundamental differences, which are more caused by nature than by environment. They believe that any cell in woman's body differs from its like cell in man's body. Before being borne and affected by the society, the cells develop into different beings; man and woman. Doctor Mahmud Behzad says that if social conditions make man and woman different, they only make the natural differences deeper.”
“In spite of all the claims made by extremist supporters of equal rights of man and woman, man and woman have different biological and ideological functions and diverse states of mind. As a result, present psychologists have defined two distinct states of mind; female and male, just as biologists have divided the body into female and male.”
Even the societies that have followed the equality principle of female and male in all areas of life could not ignore the natural distinctions between male and female that are so concrete in daily life.
“In countries like the United States of America where women can promote to higher social positions, usually boys and girls engage in all educational issues. Most teachers, though, accept the differences between schoolboys and schoolgirls, without having an exact definition of it. The teachers, who teach in both girls and boys' classes, or the investigators, who visit both classes, often speak of the conflict of the two categories and the necessity to conform them again. However, in rural coeducational classes, the distinction between the two genders is very evident... Physical and mental differences between most men and women and their different social roles have led to the idea of 'male and female samples', which is really an abstract, but useful notion. Moreover, everybody finds out to belong to one of these groups. This plays a crucial role in the social, family, educational, and vocational roles, as well as the behavior of individuals ...”
The
gender is not only evident in physical manifestations, but also in all areas of woman or man's life. It brings about some distinctions, the most obvious type of which is the physical distinctions. According to Truman,“Every body cell carries the signal of its gender ...”
,“... All body cells, as well as body organs and the nervous system have the specific sign of body gender.”
Undoubtedly, there are relations and mutual effects between the human physical and mental aspects. Countenance, height, weight, skull and bone sizes, muscle, brain, and other organs are not only physiologically different in the two genders, but have mutual mental effects. In fact, physical differences manifest or at least introduce differences in personality.
It is totally accepted in psychology that the body status affects the mental position. Thus in psychology, people are divided into various types according to their physical form. Boney, muscular, tall, or short types, for example, are defined to have different mentalities. These personality types affect crime committing, education capability, artistic talent, and other inclinations. Introvert and extrovert individuals are also defined using these physical attributes.
“... Our outside appearance shows our physiologic habits and even our regular viewpoint Even deeper issues can be predicted from one's face; not only the virtues or the vices but also smartness or stupidity; one's secret feelings and habits; one's tendency to get certain physical or mental diseases Researchers can give a complete description of one's inner and outer attributes by only looking at his/her face One should not change her/his natural body organs because any small change in body size creates deep changes in physiologic and mental activities. Very sensitive, hardworking, or tolerant people do not have heavy bodies, neither do the genius The face and gestures reveal body characteristics and mental power Mental characteristics are certainly in relation with physiologic activities ...”
Some differences between the genders are briefly mentioned here:
Boy and girl's Growth
Experts say,“... Girls grow up faster than boys that their skeleton, teeth, and genital glands mature faster than boys'. The girls' average of one or two-year lead over the boys continues throughout childhood and maturity ...”
Physical Power and Strength
The human or animal male gender is certainly stronger than the female one; therefore, it is more ready and efficient for hard works.“... Boys are superior to girls in regard to life capacity and muscular power in all ages... (Except between 11 and 14 years old in which girls are slightly superior). Finally, the boys' physical activity is more than the girls' throughout life.”
“In childhood, girls have larger buttocks than boys have.
This difference becomes more evident during puberty. The boys' bones become larger and thicker, their muscular tissues become more and their shoulders wider. Because of the same differences, boys become stronger than girls and continue to be so. Another reason for men's strength is that their heart and lungs are larger than women's. Therefore, their blood pressure is higher, they are more able in carrying oxygen to the blood, and their heart's beating is slower than women's when at rest. Moreover, men are chemically more tolerant of tiredness after sport exercises, in comparison to women ...”
Genital Glands
The genital glands in man and woman have different roles in the reproduction process and work at different times. The genetic effects and hereditary attributes are also very wonderful. This important masterpiece of creation does not end here; it has great effects on the body and mind of woman and man, making them two entirely different beings. The genital functions affect not only the mental and sensational aspects, but also intelligent, taste, and artistic talents. Finally, the genital aspect forms the personality of man and woman with two different sets of characteristics.
It is better here to see what biology experts say in this regard:
“The reason why women have more fluctuating mood than men have is that their hormonical changes are more than those of man. Women's estrogen increases from about zero to its higher amount and then again reaches zero one time every thirty days...Most women tolerate such a frightening change with an admirable patience. If men's genital hormone was taken from them twice a month and then again given to them, the world would become much worse than what it is today; it is now being managed by men whose genital hormone is unchanged.”
“... The genital glands not only help the continuation of generation, but also affect our physiologic, mental, and spiritual activities. No great philosopher, scientist, or even criminal has ever been eunuch. Men's testicles and women's ovary have various functions; they make male or female cells...They also leak substances into the blood that manifest male or female attributes in our tissues, organs, and senses. They highlight all our bodily actions as well.
The substance leaked by the testicles causes bravery, violence, and excitement, and these are the features that distinguish a war-like cow from the one working in a farm. The ovary affects woman in the same way, but not throughout her lifetime; its size decreases after menopause and then stops working. Because of this short period of ovary activity women look much broken down than men in old age. The testicles, however, remain active throughout life.
The difference between man and woman is not only in their genital organs and woman's womb and delivery; rather it is caused by a more important factor that is the chemicals leaked by genital glands into the blood.
The proponents of feminism, who think that the two genders can be educated in the same way and they occupy the same social responsibilities and positions, are unaware of these natural differences. Woman is in fact very different from man in manyways ...
Throughout man's life, the testicle cells are producing the primary core from which all new cells of the fetus are developed. Woman however makes not only a half of the primary core of the fetus, but also all the protoplasm that surrounds this core. Woman's role is therefore more important than the man's in creating the fetus... Moreover, man's role is short-time in the reproduction process, while woman's role lasts about nine months. During this time, the fetus is fed with substances from the mother's blood that is filtered inside the placenta.
In addition to getting the necessary material from the mother to grow new tissues, the fetus leaks some tissue materials back...Throughout pregnancy, the mother is affected and sometimes poisoned by the fetus. In short, because of its different tissues, the fetus in the womb influences its mother much. Finally, it changes the mother's physiologic and mental state during delivery ...”
“... The body cells leak out materials into the blood that certainly influence the human mental and spiritual activities. Among all the inner glands leaking out materials, the testicles are the most influential on one's mental power and state. Great artists, poets, saints, and conquerors have generally had extreme sexual tendency. Removing the genital glands even after puberty causes some mental changes.
After removing the ovary, women become broken down, losing some of their intellectual or creative power. The men, who remove testicles by operation, somehow lose their original personality Great artists have mostly been great lovers. It is as if the activity of the genital glands is necessary for getting artistically inspired. When one cannot reach his/her desired love, the soul is stimulated and excited. If Beatrix had married Dante, he might not be able to compose his masterpiece 'Divine Comedy' ...”
“... if we suppose that the body glands affect the human behavior, then it is clear that the two genders not only are mentally distinct, but also have 'distinct tendencies', affected by important individual changes... However, regardless of psycho-physiologic manifestations of the gender, this distinctiveness has a special effect on the personality development ...”
The Emotional Aspect
It is quite clear that man and woman have many emotional differences. Women are more sentimental and quickly affected by romantic and exciting scenes.“Because of their sincere feelings, girls are more quickly affected by training programs and more easily reformed. According to Morris Debs, girls should be educated differently from boys, because of their future role of motherhood in the family.”
Motherhood plays an important role in developing woman's emotions. That is why psychologists consider this aspect as the origin of many mental and emotional states in women and an inseparable part of woman's life.
“... Douche has highly emphasized women's motherhood instinct as the developer of their mental growth. In short, he considered the before- and after-puberty periods as a prelude to motherhood. This way, acceptance becomes part of her essential physiologic and anatomic essence. She waits to get fruitful; her life becomes meaningful only by becoming a mother.”
“Men mostly tend to help in heroic situations, while women more like to pity others.”
“Men and women react against losses and calamities differently. Women get depressed mostly after a cut in their relationship. Men, however, get depressed because of losing an ideal or a great goal. This difference shows that women are much dependent on their personal relationships and have little individual independence. This is still a proved viewpoint used by some psychiatrists in facing women depression.”
Men and women also look at daily life, emotional issues, and other people differently; one with a male view and the other with a female view. The human being in evaluating issues is both a viewer and an actor; giving to anything from her/his own personal attributes, though the issues are certain enough. If this is true, then people's gender characteristics are the most determining factors in their viewpoint. This is a great quality of the system of creation in which woman's emotion helps in making generations and forming families.
Resistance against Diseases
One of the differences between man and woman is their different physical power and resistance against diseases. The amount of this resistance affects the quality as well as the quantity of each person's life.
“Men live about seven years less than women. The question is that: is this because of physiologic or environmental causes? Researches show that females are more resistant against infections than males are. Maybe this is because of the female genes on their especial chromosome that increases their resistance. “Another point is that males not only have more heart attacks, but also have heart attacks earlier in life. Moreover, women are somehow immune against these attacks because of their 'estrogen'.”
Mental Aspect
Some traditions were mentioned in this regard in previous chapters. Here the difference between the mental power of man and of woman is discussed. The first important point is the different brain weights of man and woman. In all human races, the size of woman's skull and spinal column are less than those of man. Women are also shorter than men are in all races. Woman's brain weighs comparatively 100 to 200 grams less than that of man. This is a fact that two seemingly similar genders are this much different; a fact that implies a real wisdom, because in addition to many similar responsibilities and missions, the two genders have special distinct responsibilities in the system of creation. These especial responsibilities necessitate some differences in the bodily and anatomic systems; an undeniable fact.
Experts have said that a human being thinks, understands, and acquires wisdom wholeheartedly. Though the immediate thinking tool is the brain, it is never free from the effects of the body's various organs. The hormones, genital glands, tissues, organs, brain size, height, pregnancy, and a dozen more of physiologic and mental activities are related to the physical state and the affect the human understanding; some known to us and many others still unknown.“... In brief, a human being thinks, makes love, is hurt, admires, and worships with his/her brain as well as all other organs ...”
Therefore, the mental aspect should certainly be different in man and woman; especially because of the effect of the genital glands on the brain.
As a result, it can be said that if a mother behaves in a rigid concrete manner, her children may have emotional shortages and be raised as an ill-treated generation. And maybe this different state of the brain in women helps develop emotional aspects of the children; the human-making role of motherhood. Exactly due to the same reason, the male and female genders have slightly different trends and interests.“... More women are engaged in musical jobs, but male musicians have created deeper more durable music.”
This is also true about science, philosophy, and inventions. Except a few instances, men have founded great schools of philosophy and invented important inventions.
Undoubtedly, the mental growth necessary for a perfect prosperous life exists in women, so men and women are equal in issues that need mental growth and its resulting true understanding. Man and woman are also equal when thinking about the wonderful signs of the creation that leads to the finding of the source of creation. The Holy Qur'an equally mentions believing woman and believing man, worshipping woman and worshipping man, humble woman and humble man ...etc ..
Man and woman are hence equal in belief and religious progress, as was mentioned earlier. Two points are worth mentioning here:
a. Islam has necessitated mental growth for economic and financial decisions. This is stated in verdicts about genital and social puberty. Mental and social puberty is of course above the genital puberty. The Holy Qur'an emphasizes economic issues. Hence, it requires mental growth for it. Man and woman are not different in this regard. Both genders can possess their own capital and participate in economic activities after their mental growth.
These issues should be discussed more deeply. The mentioned criteria show that some Islamic verdicts reflect women's normal position in the past. If in a society women differ from (the women of) the past, getting higher mental and cultural positions, those criteria may also change. Since Islam belongs to all ages and all societies, these changes of criteria arc discussed and their conditions determined. b. Another related point is about deputyship in the Hajj ritual. If some people do not have the necessary financial or physical conditions for this ritual, they can appoint another person as their deputy. The question now is if a woman can be the deputy of a man, especially in his first obligatory Hajj (sarura).
Imam Sadiq (a.s
.) was asked about a woman who was the deputy of a man and he said,“If that woman has performed the Hajj before and she is faithful and understanding (in religion), (she can be the deputy of a man). There maybe a woman is more knowledgeable than a man.”
The closing phrase of Imam Sadiq's statement determines woman's probable high position in fiqh and that so many women may acquire higher positions than men in this filed by their attempt, as we see many instances of such women today.
The mentioned statement generally implies woman's jurisprudence in fiqh as well, because if women can be more knowledgeable than men in the Hajj issues, which are very complicated, they can be more knowledgeable in other areas of fiqh too. Such women can be jurisprudents, provided they have other necessary characteristics.
It is also said that if there were no men for the lawful slaughtering of animals (due to Islam), but some women knew how to doit,
the wisest of them should be selected for it.
Once, Imam Sadiq (a.s) was asked:“Can a woman slaughter an animal when there are no men?”
He replied,“The wisest of the women should do it.”
The then conditions and women's social position caused some viewpoints reflecting the realities of the time, not women's intelligence and capabilities. Women are also mentioned as great jurisprudents and hadith narrators of the utopia after the Imam Mandi's reappearance: Imam Baqir (a.s) said,“In Imam Mandi's era, all people are taught knowledge and wisdom to the extent that women judge according to Allah's Book and the Prophet'ssunna
inside their homes.”
Because the necessary qualification for judgment is jurisprudence and true knowledge of the divine verdicts, this tradition shows women's scholarly position in the future.
At the end of this chapter, some findings out of researches about the differential psychology of the two genders are mentioned:
The Cognitive Capabilities
“In the area of cognition, reviewing hundreds of researches show only a few differences between males and females. First, girls get higher scores in the verbal section of IQ tests. Their intellectual growth begins with language learning, while boys' intellectual growth takes place in practical skills Second, men are better in mathematics tests. Girls have equal performance with boys in verbal mathematics questions, but boys are better than girls in dealing with numbers and forms.
Third, boys are relatively better than girls are in spatial-visual tests such as recognizing a form from various angels, reading maps, or finding a simple form inside a complex form. A wonderful ability of girls and women is that they can keep totally irrelevant details in their minds for a short time, but boys and men can remember things that are related to themselves or related to each other. That is why women can be better secretaries. Girls can memorize lessons with or without understanding them, butboys
first try to make a logical relationship among the issues and then memorize them ...”
Social Behavior
“Regarding the social behavior, researches show some gender differences A 32-year research (from 1933 to 1965) in the United States showed that men are always more violent than women. Women, however, are more verbally violent. In other words, women use obscene language when they are angry, while angry men show angry behavior and involve in beating and kicking ...”
The words of Corrine Hut, a woman psychologist, are worth mentioning here:“Corrine Hut has impartially and logically found out that a woman is physically, physiologically, and psychologically different from a man and these differences bring about different social roles for them.”
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Author: Mohammad Hakimi
