ok.

before we get started, let me say this.

i myself am a woman, and i don't consider myself weak or girly or any of that.

so i am not in any way being sexist. i am simply laying out the difference between men and women, and gender roles. (yes they do exist, and they are healthy.)

alrighty.

so i have noticed that in a lot of new YA novels, there is a female protagonist who is the main character.

She is strong, kick ass and can do just about anything.

here's what gets me: that they keep doing better than men, and/or don't need men, and/or can't cook, clean and don't want a family.

explanation time.

physiology, psychology and simply the hormone structure of human beings drive us the same way they drive wild animals. (which humans are classified as animals btw.)

in nature and in all of history, women and men have had their separate roles. There have been strong women, no doubt.

The amazons were real (a race of solely women is not accurate. they did have men they just fought alongside them.

Scandinavian and celtic women, especially before catholicism.

joan of arc.

cleopatra.

i could go on and on.

But these women who made it and made a difference also played to their strengths.

If you wanna talk about strong women, let's start with Scandinavian women.

No marriage was arranged without their consent, because an unhappy woman ended a marriage in one of three ways: maiming, death or divorce.

Women could fight alongside the men (shieldmaidens.)

but they also stayed home, raised children and families, tended the farm (if they were lucky enough to have one) and cooked.

they were homemakers and warriors.

it was dishonorable among these women if you didn't know how to cook or if you couldnt raise a family to be close knit and honorable.

these women also didn't challenge the male warriors unless their life depended on it.

let's talk about physical differences between men and women.

the average man is 5'10"-6'0"

the average woman is 5'4"-5'7"

essentially, this is where the differences start. men have leverage advantage over women.

the average man weighs 180 lbs-200 lbs

the average woman weighs 132 lbs-140lbs.

if each is healthy, then most of this weight comes from bones and muscle. meaning the men are stronger than women by far.

the average man has 1/3 more muscle mass than the average woman.

all this to say that women and men have different roles that suit them well, roles that, should they be neglected by either one, it would essentially be chaos.

It is easier to understand this from a religious (specifically judeo-christian) perspective.

men have and will always be stronger than women physically (normally. im not talking about weak men and body builder women)

women bear children, have protective instincts and a more level head.

women are who raise children and create future generations, and men (historically speaking) are the ones who provide for and feed future generations.

anyway, im sorry if i offended anyone but on this one i had to speak my mind.

hopefully this made sense.