Every human body is extraordinary, but science reveals there are certain areas where women regularly outperform men.
Color vision
Women are able to perceive smaller contrasts when it comes to different shades of color. Researchers believe women developed this ability because they had to be able to spot different kinds of plants.
Men typically see three color channels; however, some women have four channels and are known as “tetrachromats.” They can see millions of colors that men cannot, because they have an extra color receptor in their eyes.
Olfactory sensitivity
Scientific studies have also proven that women have a stronger sense of smell and taste than men. This heightened ability is due to the fact that women have more cells (neurons) in their olfactory bulb.
This allows women to process smells and taste more deeply than men.
Center of gravity
Women’s centers of gravity are lower because they have wider hips and pelvic regions. They also store fat differently than men.
It’s the scientific reason why women almost always win in the test of having to hold their elbows on the floor when on all fours. Men almost always fall over due to having a higher center of gravity.
Immune resilience
Women generally have stronger immune systems. Researchers attribute this to having two X chromosomes, many of which house immunity genes.
Estrogen can also protect against inflammation and immune system diseases by boosting the body’s defenses against bacteria and viruses.
Multitasking
Some studies have shown that women have more white matter in their brains. White matter acts like information superhighways that help connect the left and right hemispheres of our brains.
Increased white matter can make it easier for women to process information in a more systematic, organized approach.
Muscle recovery
Men have been proven to be stronger than women, but women tend to have more resistance to muscle fatigue.
Estrogen helps to protect muscles from cell damage that occurs during endurance activities, which allows women to recover faster.
Peripheral perception
According to many evolutionary psychologists, women have a wider natural field of vision. Women have more light-sensitive photoreceptor cells in their peripheral retina, which allows them to see movement out of the corner of their eyes better than men.
Men have sharper vision because they are evolved to have more tunnel vision to spot prey from a distance.
Emotional intelligence
Women tend to have greater functional activity in the mirror neuron section of their brains.
Mirror neurons allow us to process and react to the world around us. This allows women to pick up on body language, micro facial expressions, and subtle mood changes more easily.
Natural buoyancy
Because women generally have a different body composition in terms of the ratio of bone density to fat distribution, a woman’s body will naturally float more than a man’s. Women also tend to expend less energy floating on the water.
This, with women having lower energy expenditure capacities than men, is why females excel at extreme long-distance swimming and have always held more world records.
Memory capacity
Studies have shown that women tend to have bigger memory centers in the brain, specifically those relating to verbal memory and episodic memory.
Therefore, they remember specific details of people they’ve interacted with, names, faces and events from far longer periods of time.
Sleep endurance
Men have been shown to be more likely to be night owls, but women tend to have shorter circadian rhythms, which cause them to sleep and wake earlier. Research has shown women operate better while sleep deprived.
Women have been shown to maintain better cognition, decisions, and concentration while tired than their male counterparts.
Danger Detection
Studies about hormonal cycles discovered that women’s ability to recognize environmental threats increases during their luteal phase of the menstrual cycle.
By being able to pick up on these subtle hints in the environment, women may be able to protect their offspring from potential threats that others may not notice.
Lifespan Longevity
Women live longer than men on average. One reason scientists believe this happens is that females have another X chromosome. X chromosomes contain genes that protect the body from disease.
Lower levels of visceral fat are another reason. Visceral fat wraps around organs and increases disease risk, and women’s bodies usually store fat subcutaneously (under the skin), which provides a natural shield against the degradation of aging.
Stress empathy
In women, stress is more likely to heighten empathetic responses instead of default aggression. In stressful situations, men are more likely to fight or flight, but women are physiologically adapted to tend-and-befriend (they protect the ones they care for and reach out to their social network for support and safety).
These tendencies are largely influenced by oxytocin, which promotes the protection of social groups by simultaneously reducing stress.
Temperature adaptability
Women retain heat differently because their body fat stores are distributed in order to insulate vital areas. Women may feel colder than men in drafty areas because blood is being sent away from the skin and directed to support core body organs.
However, this distribution of body fat is extremely beneficial to the female body because it helps promote healthy reproductive functions and provides the body with stored energy for long-term use.
Sources: Please see here for a complete listing of all sources that were consulted in the preparation of this article.