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why women act that way

Posted by on Jan 23, 2002 in Uncategorized | 31 comments

Girlfriend Patti and I found this when we were rummaging through some old books that a store was giving away for free. It’s an article from Reader’s Digest circa 1966, although it originally appeared in the women’s magazine McCall’s more than a decade earlier.

As a man with six sisters, 16 nieces, a mother and a full-time girlfriend, I was pretty darn excited to find this gem from the past.

Finally men have the answers to all the age-old questions that have plagued us from the dawn of time, and we have those answers straight from the horse’s mouth–from a woman.

Why Women Act That Way

by JUDITH CHURCHILL

throwing like a girl
Why are women so clumsy at pitching a ball and running? Lay it to bone structure. The reason most women can’t pitch an efficient overhand may be connected with the “carrying angle” of their arms. The average woman’s arms are more bent at the elbow than a man’s. This may help to cause the stiff downward motion in ball-throwing that men find so hilarious.

Most women also are knock-kneed; their legs are built in the same bent angle as their arms. Men’s legs are usually straighter, like their arms. That’s why men run straight and gracefully and women awkwardly, throwing their legs in an arc. It’s why, too, women have a harder time with balance and are more prone to tumbles-a fact for which insurance companies will vouch.

she's better upholstered

How can a woman get away with such flimsy clothes in cold weather?
First, she’s better upholstered. Nature has padded women with a layer of subcutaneous fat, which acts as first-rate insulation to hold heat in, keep cold out. Second, a woman’s metabolism is a lot more flexible than a man’s. It ups heat production in winter and slows it down in summer. In hot weather a woman gives off eight percent less heat per square inch of skin than a man does.

Why do women go on periodic frenzies of housecleaning and furniture-moving? The husband who comes home to find his favorite chair relocated can blame his wife’s thyroid gland. It’s larger and more active than his and gives her more pep and enthusiasm. She also has a regular monthly “nesting impulse” that sends her bustling about, making everything neat and orderly.

Why are women forever smelling something burning or hearing burglars? There is evidence that their senses may be keener than a man’s. A woman may be wrong in her conclusions, but she probably did hear something her husband didn’t. Her taste and touch senses are sharper, too.

periodic frenzies of housecleaning

Why are women such glib fibbers? Truth is, it’s the men who tell the whoppers. But most psychologists agree that women are more adept at “small fibs, deception, hoodwinking, exaggeration and evasion.” Like intuition, it’s an age-old weapon of the physically (not biologically) weaker sex. To compensate for their lesser strength women have always had to rely on strategy; they’ve taught themselves keener perception, observation and deduction. Women have learned that when they’re cornered it’s smarter for them to take to superior guerrilla tactics-word power and imagination.

Why are women always so suspicious of their husbands’ love of adventure? According to Richard Curle in Women, An Analytical Study, it’s this: The wife interprets it as an escape from obligations. Women think men are congenitally flighty and don’t take their jobs as husbands and fathers seriously enough. It frightens women to feel that they’ve handed over their lives to those who can’t be relied on.

the superior culture of women

Why do women go in for concerts and “culture” so much more than men? There’s a biological basis. Such things call for sitting still, and it’s hard for a man to sit still. Woman’s greatest avoirdupois is around her hips. This makes her more comfortable in chairs. A man is top-heavy, with his maximum weight around his chest and shoulders. He’s built for action, not sitting.

Why do women change their minds so much more often than men? They don’t. Women are more indecisive than men and take a long time to make up their minds. But once they have formed opinions they usually stick to them. Actually, it’s the men who are the mind-changers. Surveys by Dr. Karl F. Robinson, of Northwestern University, showed that men change their minds two or three times as often as women.