Marriage doesn’t make men and women more alike. Research published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences was based on 1,296 couples who were married an average of 19.8 years. What the researchers found was that couples who had been married up to 39 years weren’t more alike in fundamental personality traits than newlyweds. The similarity in married couples was attributed to couples – consciously or unconsciously – having looked for mates during courtship that were very much like themselves. Supposedly, the only exception was aggression. If one spouse was physically aggressive, the other was likely to become aggressive too – growing alike when growing apart.
In 2010 American women working full-time earned, on average, 20% less than men. However, there were exceptions – single, childless women ages 22-30. This group, on average, earned 8% more than men. According to Research Advisors, women out-earned men by greater percentages in some cities – 11% in San Francisco, 17% in New York and 21% in Atlanta. This earning difference was attributed to 3 things: more women graduating from college, increasing wages for college degrees and decreasing high-paying jobs in male-dominated fields like manufacturing. Unfortunately, women’s earnings, in general, stopped increasing when they became mothers in their “fatherland”.
Women are more likely to use prescription drugs than men are – 53.3% compared to 43.2%; but according to the National Center for Health Statistics, Americans, in general, are taking more prescription drugs. For children under age 12 most prescriptions were for asthma and for those 12-19 most were for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. In the 20-59 age group antidepressants were the most commonly prescribed drug and for those 60 and older it was cholesterol-lowering drugs. In 2008 $234 billion was spent on prescription drugs – more than twice as much as was spent in 1999 – but are we twice as healthy?
However, women and men are very similar in one respect – menopause. In men this condition is officially known as hypogonadism. According to male health experts, more than 5 million men experience symptoms which include mood swings, fatigue, reduced muscle mass and decreased sex drive. Male menopause is caused by a deficiency in testosterone. Men’s testosterone levels fall about 1% a year beginning in their late 30’s. Although male menopause can be diagnosed with a blood test and treated with testosterone injections, skin patches, gels and implanted pellets, it’s estimated 95% of cases go undiagnosed – which should give “men(o)pause” to think.
Comments