The gender issue

Ever since their earliest childhood, children are taught not to make any differences between genders regarding girls' and boys' abilities. They are told to be respectful to each other and not to be prejudiced against the opposite gender. But then they grow up and realise that, despite those good words, there are actually plenty of differences between men and women which have not only biological explanations but also social or cultural roots.

According to scientific research, men's brains are slightly different from women's. Many surveys showed that men are more prone to succeed in scientific fields and are more accurate at subjects which involve the sense of direction in a space (e.g. reading a map) than women. On the contrary, they cannot manage to do many things at the same time while women are used to doing this all the time.

However, we can think that, despite these physiological facts that have been scientifically proven, the differences in abilities between men and women can also be a matter of social or cultural background. In fact, for ages women have been brought up in a way to learn how to become a good housewife and mother. They had to know how to run a home with all the tasks it includes, such as cooking, cleaning, washing, ironing and bringing up their children. Men only worried about bringing back the bread (or at least the money to purchase it!). They haven't been used to getting involved in the household chores or even in the children's education.
That could be a reason why they seem to be overwhelmed when they have to face such situations.

But sometimes, some of them who are asked to give their wives a hand just use the pretext that they haven't been taught how to do the household chores to avoid it...or even worse, they do it in the wrong way on purpose not to be asked to do it anymore!! So, in many cases, it is not just a matter of knowledge or ability..it is overall a matter of will.

Be that as it may, it is important not to generalise about the opposite sex to avoid discrimination. We are all very different from each other and there are lots of exceptions that can refute the best theories about this topic.