The wisdom war

by Maya Jayapal

I read an article recently which referred to the observation that women's brains are about 10% smaller than men's. Also a French scientist about a century ago had apparently concluded, in all his wisdom, that the small size of the brains explained the fickleness, inconstancy, absence of thought and logic and incapacity to reason in women.

Although the gentleman who referred to the first remark has since eaten his words, I can think of several males who would say Ah! I knew that! However, I wonder whether such provocative statements should be made at all. Has it been proved beyond any reasonable doubt? To a society that is trying to promote equal opportunity for all human beings, this comes as a slap in the face. To me it is similar to saying that women are more caring and intuitive. I have seen many men with those qualities. I remember with affectionate gratitude the male nurses who cared for my father in his last days, the concern in his cardiologists face when he performed his operation. Let us, therefore not fall into the pit of generalisation.

And yet language points to that way of thinking too. When we want to be derogatory we use the words, pea brain or bird brain. We totally ignore the potent protein punch that minuscule legume packs or the perspicacity of our feathered friends. Who has not heard the famous fable about the jackdaw that got the last bit of water from the jug? And who does not allude to the bespectacled owl as the fount of all wisdom?

In my view books such as 'Men are from Mars' and 'Women from Venus' should be read from the point of view of explanation leading to compassion rather than to highlight the differences. After all, compatibility means acknowledging, appreciating and working with the differences, otherwise a world of clones would indeed be a boring world.

It is the function, not the form that we should be looking at. But men who in every other way epitomise kindness and perceptiveness will in weak moments allude to the non-professionalism of women who are, after all, housewives.

They forget that running a house brings in all the managerial skills that a so-called profession entails- administrative, multitasking, budgeting, operational procedures, creativeness, humour, delegation and training, counselling and supervision, etc. And all this with love and compassion, with no expectation of recognition or reward. What a wife does in the house will be evident-and hopefully appreciated- only if she decides not to do it.

Small can also mean beautiful and powerful as the immemorial story of David and Goliath will prove.

Is it cultural or societal conditioning that regulates such thinking? Just like our giving cars and scooters to boys and dolls that flutter their eyelashes to girls.

So let us remember that it is usage and cognition that matter, not the substance alone. And let us celebrate the differences and like the French say: Vive la difference., for the differences certainly make for enjoyment, compatibility and excitement.

(Courtesy-Deccan Herald)