Samantha Herron
Whetstone
A.P Lang
26 March 2014
On a Woman’s Mind
Since the beginning of times men and women have always been tremendously different.
The way they walk, talk, dress, even physically look. It’s all diverse. But, if we look deep past
the outer exterior and into their minds the same can be found. Scientists have been exploring this
idea of variation in brains based upon gender for years. What were their findings? That there are
evident contrasts in male and female brains. With a woman’s brain, due to the rate at which it
develops and how it develops women tend to have social and language skills that supersede
men’s.
The reasoning for these variations can be traced back to primitive times when women
stayed in the village to raise children, cook, clean, etc. while men where the ones who left to
village to track and hunt prey for food. Now, each of our brain has what is called “plasticity”,
meaning our brain can be molded and easily adapt. Since it was required of these ancestral
women to raise the children and because of the minds “plasticity” women acquired a mind that
had advancements in social cognation1 and language skills2. While men still had these abilities it
is nowhere near the extent of a female. Men rather, due to the need to navigate to find food, they
gained a superior spatial ability3 then women; which took up the space where women often store
further verbal and language capabilities. Also during these times life expectancy was quite short
1
Ex: Intuitive, creative, emotional, able to read others, extended memory, etc.
2
Ex: Reading, writing, verbal expression, vocabulary, spelling, word definitions, etc.
3
Ex: Math, science, navigation, motor skills, etc.
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compared to today so women back then began to have children around the age of 13 and 14. As a
result of this young baring age a girl’s brain and body needed to develop faster not only so they
could physically give birth but so they could care for the child and teach it and provide for it on
an emotional level. The entirety of these in etched qualities and changes in our brains are still
present in our time.
These transformations actually begin to be prominent during the 26th week of the fetus’
gestation. What occurs is, depending upon the gender of the unborn child, the hormones will kick
in and beginning to alter the child and its brain structure. In a female fetus there will be estrogen
and progesterone which adds in the enlargement of parts of the brain like the corpus callosum4.
Scientists confirmed: “The corpus callosum -- the bridge of nerve tissue that connects the right
and left sides of the brain -- had a thicker measurement in female fetuses than in male fetuses”
(WebMD 1) because the fibers are thicker it heighten the female’s ability to transmit information
between both hemispheres. Also while in this stage of the pregnancy Jerre Levy, biopsychologist
of the University of Chicago, suggested that the left hemisphere of the brain may develop more
rapidly thus presenting them an upper hand in verbal/language capability. (Kimura 57) Women
as well have verbal/language stored on both sides of their brain while in men it’s only on one
side. Therefore not only do females have additional language areas to use that are more
advanced, like the left hemisphere, but in addition acquire better and quicker accessibility
allowing them to excel in verbal communication and literature.
These innovation mid prenatal state as well as other brain growth throughout their
adolescent years assist girls to mature and progress-in the before mention areas- faster than boys.
For instance statistics show that overall reading of books for young women is 59% compared to a
meager 43% in young men. That’s a 13% variation! A gap equal in size has existed since the
4
A broad band of nerve fibers joining the two hemispheres of the brain allowing information to travel in
between the two.
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spread of mass publishing in the mid-19th century. Plainly stated girls read; boys don’t (Shea
408). I have seen this first hand throughout my life. Whether it was in class- throughout the
various years- or in the males do not group the majority of my male friends don’t read. But, for
the most part the girls do.
We have all heard the saying boys will be boys. Not once though have I heard girls will
be girls. Why is that? It can be related to another benefit in their brain: “The prefrontal cortex is
larger in women and matures faster in women than in men” (O’Brien 1). The function of the
prefrontal cortex is to control complex cognitive behavior, personality expression, decision
making, and moderating social behavior. So girls, even at an exceedingly young age, make more
achievements on a social level; frequently relating to school settings and friend groups. In
correlation to the speedy growth of that cortex girls have an exceptional ability to express their
feelings, functioning in public settings, and often are less trouble. It has even been said that these
cerebral areas often become superior six years prior to boys. Now it is not to say that the boys
will not catch up for the most part but it will more than likely never be to the full extent of a
woman’s.
You can also look at this from a literary stand point. Some of the most famous writers of
all times were women. Virginia wolf, Jane Austin, Emily Dickinson, Sylvia Plath, and there are
hundreds more. That is not to say there are not brilliant authors or poets who are men. E.E
Cummings is a personal favorite of mine and yes all of his poems are extraordinarily deep. But,
E.E Cummings also excelled in mathematics and science. Which if you look at the physical
structure of his writing the interruptions, spacing, and concept lay out actually has this spatial or
mathematical lay out. Women writers and poets, the majority of the time, focus on self
expression and reaching people on an emotional level. As well as having an easier time
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verbalizing their ideas. All of the variations in a woman’s brains, the prefrontal cortex, the
corpus callosum, and the larger left hemisphere contribute to their remarkable literary
achievements.
Whether it is primordial times or the twenty-first century, there is no doubt that a
women’s mind is different than a man’s from fetus to adulthood. Maybe men minds will always
be trying to catch up to women’s in these concepts or maybe one day they will even out. Only
time and science will tell.
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Work cited
WebMD. "How Male and Female Brains Differ." WebMD. WebMD, n.d. Web.
24 Mar. 2014.
Kimura, Doreen. "gender does affect how our brains work- but in suprising ways." Psychology
TodayNov. 1985: 52-58. Print.
Magon, Angela. "Gender, the Brain and Education: Do Boys and Girls Learn Differently? ."
Project. N.p.,n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2014.
"Males and females differ in specific brain structures." Research. University of Cambridge,
11 Feb. 2014.Web. 26 Mar. 2014.
O'Brien , Ginny . "Understanding Ourselves: Gender Differences in the Brain." Understanding
Ourselves:Gender Differences in the Brain. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2014.
"Prefrontal Cortex." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 24 Mar. 2014. Web. 26 Mar. 2014.
Shea, Renée Hausmann, and Lawrence Scanlon. "Why Johnny Won't Read." The language of
composition: reading, writing, rhetoric. Boston, MA: Bedford / St. Martins, 2008. 408
410. Print.
Verma, Ragini . "Brain connectivity study reveals striking differences between men and
women."ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2014.