Born to be different

I think that men and women were created to function in separate roles. Now, dont get me wrong. If you are feminist, please pull your nails out of the desk... I am not talking about necessarily a feminine or masculine superiority. I speak only of different roles. It is no mystery that men and women are biologically different creatures. While I could rant on about how various biological difference would promote usefulness in some roles while not in others... I will avoid the 3rd Grade psyc lecture.

Today, I thought about something that I really found interesting. A few days ago I read the book "The Tipping Point". If you get a chance, you should check it out. It really is a good book. Anyways, in there the author talked about how, in recent studies of cigaret addicts, scientists, psychologists, etc. have noticed that the actual addiction to smoking isnt so much the nicotine as it is an addiction to what smoking does for a person's life. Now, the author did a way better job of articulating this than I can, so I will just cut to the point. Long story short, it turns out that anti-depressant medication is actually just as, if not more effective at stopping people from smoking than the nicotine patch/ gum ever has been. As it turns out, smoking actually helps stimulate the brain to release various chemicals (I use that word vaguely) that trigger happiness and warmth (emotional). Anti-depressants do the same and more-so. For those who smoked because of that good feeling it brought, the anti-depressant medication served their craving, and thus they had no desire for a cigaret, and when they went to smoke, all they could taste was the smoke, because they already had the good feeling. And so many quit.

This brings me to today's thought. I was watching a commercial for a new type of birth control pill, and interestingly enough, their main advertisement was for things like "clearing up acne", "stabilizing depression", "assisting hormones"... and the short story is that being on the pill actually made you what we would call "a better feeling woman". Now, as most of you know, what the pill does is essentially stimulate a woman's body into a state similar to pregnancy. What is really funny about this is that a large majority of young women are on the pill. There by, the societal norm that we project is a woman in a pseudo-state of pregnancy. The way she feels, looks, interacts, etc. The way a woman's body should be, hormonally, is similar to a state of pregnancy. This observation really just struck me because right now, the birth-rate, world wide is decreasing rapidly. And yet, women throughout America know that they only feel "right" when they are in a state of pregnancy. Now, I am not necessarily speaking against birth control or the pill here. I am just bringing up an interesting correlation.....

People smoke (in general) because it stimulates chemicals in their brain that make them feel happy. Instead of treating the problem, they treat the symptom. In the same way, millions of women, if not billions are on the pill today because they know that their bodies only feel right when they are approaching a state of pregnancy. And then, they wonder, why life feels void of purpose when they dont get married until they are 35, and even then only to have 1 maybe 2 kids. Yes, yes, I know that fits into the great plan of success and a controlled life. However, right now, the replacement rate for a family is 2.1. Meaning, a family has to have 2.1 kids to simply replace the husband and wife. In the next 50 years, Europe will loose over 1/4 of its population to death alone, and the lack of children to replace those who are passing away. I just wonder when our society will start treating the problem instead of the symptom. Children can be a wonderful blessing to any community. They bring hope, and joy, they push people forward and bind many people together... not to mention the fact that children actually help their mother's emotionally, physically, and psychologically. When the welfare system was created, there was something like 20 people working for every one person on welfare. Today, there is 2 people working for every one person on welfare. By the time my generation hits, there will be 1 to 1 if not worse. Irrelevant of your outlook on welfare, I think it can be agreed that we as a society need more people working and more children to support those who can not.


Now, just as another aside, and so you know I am not having a bash-fest on the women of the world... the same principle holds true for me. Besides childbearing, which unquestionably drives millions of men to push their self forward in life (to support their family), men face another interesting situation in life. Right now, the life expectancy for men is something like 5-8 years shorter than for women. Much of that is caused by early deaths including heart-attack, strokes, etc. Of which, is generally caused by a high amount of stress on a body that in no way can handle it. Many men have gotten smart about this, working out regularly. Besides the good the male-bonding brings, constant physical stimulation (I mean working out.... get your mind out of the gutter...)of the body conditions not only their body, but their mind and heart. Endurance, personal awareness, and strength, both gained through exercise is something I think we can all agree that today's men need more of... and to talk about this from the sexual side, as I did with women.... The other day I was reading a study done comparing our little blue pill against just common exercise. Interestingly enough, it turns out that while medication like Viagra is effective, a man who exercises on a consistent basis, and watches what he eats actually has just a sensitive of a sexual response as a common man on Viagra. Yes, I am being serious. Working out and eating well actually gives men the same effect as Viagra without any of the wicked side-effects.

It is almost like men were made to be active and physical in life (and not so much desk slaves), while women were created with childbirth and care in mind. Now, I am not talking about a 1920's mom stays home while dad goes out in work. I am just saying that I think the world would be a better place if men took care of their body, so that they could be prepared in all regards to support their family. Secondly, I think men should want to have families. If they really want to succeed, nothing pushes a man like putting food on a table for a family he loves. While family may seem like a burden to some, it has been the great success of man others.

In short, I believe that a husband and wife who have a healthy sexual relationship, open to the possibility of childbirth would really help them personally, as well as help the society as a whole. And, I think that while medication is a great resource to those in need, it is far more important to treat problems at their core than to just skate by constantly treating symptoms.