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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

Women and men see things differently - literally. Sex difference in colour and motion perception.

75 replies

ArabellaScott · 04/05/2026 12:11

Women see more colours than men, while men are better able to see movement.

https://www.genengnews.com/insights/why-men-and-women-see-things-differently/

'Women ... are better than men in distinguishing colors in the middle of the visual spectrum, such as shades of blue and green.
That’s because color vision depends on three types of cones, two of which are carried on the X-chromosome—L-cones that are more sensitive to the longer wavelengths of light; and S-cones, to shorter wavelengths. The third cones, M-cones, are sensitive to middle wavelengths.
“Across most of the visible spectrum, males require a slightly longer wavelength than do females in order to experience the same hue,” researchers from two City University of New York schools concluded in their study, published September 4 in Biology of Sex Differences.'

https://archive.ph/qMlq4

'....the grass is almost always greener to women than to men, to whom verdant objects appear a bit yellower.

The study also found that men are less adept at distinguishing among shades in the center of the color spectrum: blues, greens, and yellows.
Where the men shone was in detecting quick-changing details from afar, particularly by better tracking the thinner, faster-flashing bars within a bank of blinking lights.
The team puts this advantage down to neuron development in the visual cortex, which is boosted by masculine hormones. Since males are flush with testosterone, in particular, they're born with 25 percent more neurons in this brain region than females, the team noted.'

Why Men and Women See Things Differently

A possible explanation for the disparities goes back centuries to when men generally served as hunter-gatherers and women as nurturers and child bearers.

https://www.genengnews.com/insights/why-men-and-women-see-things-differently/

OP posts:
nutmeg7 · 04/05/2026 15:36

ThatOpenSwan · 04/05/2026 12:41

A fun thing is when you start hormonally transitioning your vision changes - only a bit but enough to notice, according to a trans friend. Isn't it great how interesting human bodies are?

Sounds like a fantasy to me.

UtopiaPlanitia · 04/05/2026 15:36

ArabellaScott · 04/05/2026 13:03

I noticed this ability develop once I was pregnant and it's never gone away. I could catch things before I'd even consciously noticed they were falling, something in my peripheral vision would be falling out of a cupboard and I'd catch it before I knew what was happening. I would not be surprised if this was down to heightened risk awareness, tbh.

Unlike me, DH is spectacularly unaware of his surroundings. I notice things out of the corner of my eye before I’ve even consciously figured out what they are whereas DH would need the potential problem or danger to be waving sparklers and playing the trombone loudly before he’d notice 🤦‍♀️

Whereas DH is phenomenally good at concentrating on one specific and fussy task for hours at a time e.g. spotting bugs in software code or spotting errors in a mathematical formula.

I’m a 'do 5 things at once' sort of person and he’s a 'do things sequentially and methodically' type of person. But I’m not sure how much, if any, of this is personality or sex-related traits 🤔

NotDavidTennant · 04/05/2026 16:21

Wearenotborg · 04/05/2026 12:44

No. Really. Just no. Sorry bud but your friend is either lying to you or doing the whole wishful thinking malarkey. Hormones will not change any sex related differences.

Sorry but you can't categorically say that hormones don't change any sex related differences. One obvious counter example: women who take testosterone gradually end up with a masculinised larynx and a deep, male sounding voice.

Cross-sex hormones don't magically make you the opposite sex but they clearly do have some physiological effects. That might encompass some aspects of sensory perception.

Scoffingbiscuits · 04/05/2026 16:42

NotDavidTennant · 04/05/2026 16:21

Sorry but you can't categorically say that hormones don't change any sex related differences. One obvious counter example: women who take testosterone gradually end up with a masculinised larynx and a deep, male sounding voice.

Cross-sex hormones don't magically make you the opposite sex but they clearly do have some physiological effects. That might encompass some aspects of sensory perception.

We need some proper research.
I wonder whether the man who felt that his eyesight had improved from taking hormones knew, before he experienced that improvement, that women see some things that men don't?
I have been having problems with a particular smell entering my home. That experience - going on for months - has massively increased my sensitivity to smell. I pick up smells that I never noticed before. It could be this kind of thing with that man, or it could be in his imagination - thinking his eyesight has changed because he wants that to be true.
It would be good to see more research on the impact of taking hormones. Including on whether it makes transmen more aggressive.

MarieDeGournay · 04/05/2026 16:50

ArabellaScott · 04/05/2026 13:03

I noticed this ability develop once I was pregnant and it's never gone away. I could catch things before I'd even consciously noticed they were falling, something in my peripheral vision would be falling out of a cupboard and I'd catch it before I knew what was happening. I would not be surprised if this was down to heightened risk awareness, tbh.

Before I reached this post of yours, Arabella, I was thinking of the old 'girls can't throw' thing, and thinking of some of the women's cricket matches I've seen on TV, and a fielder out near the boundary hitting the wicket to run a batter out...
'Girls can't throw', yeah right.🙄

Your post suggests that a woman who has been through pregnancy and giving birth would be an absolutely ace slip fielder😁

MarieDeGournay · 04/05/2026 16:53

edited to say - My post was hidden for a few minutes, but as you can see, it was restored thank you.
So obviously MNHQ don't like cricket - oh no, they love it😄
I'm really looking forward to what could have triggered that, a completely uncontroversial and humorous post - or so I thought...

VimesandhisCardboardBoots · 04/05/2026 17:34

Huh, explains why DP will spend hours agonising over 2 shades of paint that look absolutely identical to me at least!

ArabellaScott · 04/05/2026 17:43

illuminada · 04/05/2026 14:53

Hahahaha

ain't nothing they won't appropriate.

You're not having my extra cones, lads. No matter how many pills you pop.

Soz not soz.

OP posts:
CassOle · 04/05/2026 17:51

I wonder why there are so many discussions about the 'frog voice' issue, if testosterone gives a deep, male-sounding voice?

Keeptoiletssafe · 04/05/2026 17:53

sight: women, whether they realise or not, look all round them when out and about, assessing the environment. Men look ahead.

smell: women are more sensitive to smells. Both sexes can tell the difference between a women’s public toilet and a men’s public toilet just by smell. Blergh.

OP posts:
ArabellaScott · 04/05/2026 17:59

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7904422/

'Men and women are biologically distinct. Their body structures and hormonal patterns are quite different, which implies the presence of clear functional differences. In recent reports, distinct immune responses have been described in men and women. These are presumed to contribute to differences between men and women in immune responses concerning various autoimmune diseases, malignancies, and infectious diseases. Therefore, it is essential to consider sex as a biological variable in the context of scientific research'
...
'...it is important to consider whether there are hearing-related differences between men and women. Liu et al. reported that men experience more frequent deafness or serious hearing difficulty than women, on the basis of a large meta-analysis 3]. Other reports have indicated that men are more sensitive than women to noise-induced hearing loss 4]. The mechanisms of hearing loss are complex and diverse, although they most commonly involve reactive oxygen species formation inside the cochlea and subsequent tissue damage (i.e., loss of auditory hair cells and nerve fibers). For example, a study demonstrated differences between male and female animals in the regulation of cochlear blood flow, which is important in the context of hearing due to the effects of ischemia and oxidative stress'

Do Women Have Better Hearing Than Men? - PMC

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7904422/

OP posts:
OP posts:
ArabellaScott · 04/05/2026 18:04

Women see, smell, hear, and feel more and better than men. Just one sense remaining:

Taste:

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10605808/

'The overall taste and individual tastant function were better in females than in males, especially for subjects aged older than 59 years. Our results show that taste function is affected by both age and gender.'

Full house!

Checking your browser - reCAPTCHA

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10605808/

OP posts:
ArabellaScott · 04/05/2026 18:13

For me, this is making up somewhat for all the stuff about grip strength, muscle twitch, etc.

OP posts:
MarmaladeorJam · 04/05/2026 18:16

ThatOpenSwan · 04/05/2026 12:41

A fun thing is when you start hormonally transitioning your vision changes - only a bit but enough to notice, according to a trans friend. Isn't it great how interesting human bodies are?

I noticed that when I started perimenopause. My menopause friends tell me that their vision changed too.

How much of it is simple age related deterioration vs hormonal shifts would be interesting, but perhaps impossible, to know!

I LOVE scientists - they ask why? And then figure it out.

And best of all - they share the intel.

MarmaladeorJam · 04/05/2026 18:22

UtopiaPlanitia · 04/05/2026 15:36

Unlike me, DH is spectacularly unaware of his surroundings. I notice things out of the corner of my eye before I’ve even consciously figured out what they are whereas DH would need the potential problem or danger to be waving sparklers and playing the trombone loudly before he’d notice 🤦‍♀️

Whereas DH is phenomenally good at concentrating on one specific and fussy task for hours at a time e.g. spotting bugs in software code or spotting errors in a mathematical formula.

I’m a 'do 5 things at once' sort of person and he’s a 'do things sequentially and methodically' type of person. But I’m not sure how much, if any, of this is personality or sex-related traits 🤔

Edited

Bloody hell @UtopiaPlanitia , we are married to the same man. And, I am do a 5 things at once type too.

IwantToRetire · 04/05/2026 18:22

I think studies on this difference between men and women first happened in the late 19th Century, and have been re-done over the decades.

What is interesting is how the period of time in which the studies are done influence the "meaning" of these differences.

Additup · 04/05/2026 18:38

ThatOpenSwan · 04/05/2026 12:41

A fun thing is when you start hormonally transitioning your vision changes - only a bit but enough to notice, according to a trans friend. Isn't it great how interesting human bodies are?

How would that work as the differences discussed in vision are sex specific?
Thats like saying prepubescent girls and postmenopausal women can't see as many colours as other females because they have less oestrogen which is obviously nonsense.

As someone who has been through puberty and menopause I can assure you my ability to see different colours hasn't changed, nor did I suddenly start seeing more colours when I took hrt or when I was pregnant because of the increase in oestrogen.

I think your friend has an over active imagination.

Igmum · 04/05/2026 19:00

I knew about the sex differences in colour and taste but interesting to find out why and learn that we have a clean sweep across the board. I think my reactions improved in pregnancy but from ridiculously sub-par and oblivious to adequate. My sense of smell however became practically a super power. I was acutely aware of everything and could pinpoint things. Basically I turned into the child catcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. It was overwhelming sometimes.

PonyPatter44 · 04/05/2026 19:04

ArabellaScott · 04/05/2026 13:03

I noticed this ability develop once I was pregnant and it's never gone away. I could catch things before I'd even consciously noticed they were falling, something in my peripheral vision would be falling out of a cupboard and I'd catch it before I knew what was happening. I would not be surprised if this was down to heightened risk awareness, tbh.

Fast reflexes are my only physical gift. I'm fat, I run slowly, im shortsighted, but I have lightning fast reflexes. If it wasn't for all my other physical shortcomings, I'd be a brilliant fighter pilot.

JanesLittleGirl · 04/05/2026 19:29

I am amazed by the idea that men can see 70 colours. DH is stuck with the original 16 colours in MS Windows plus a generic one called 'muddy'.

ProfessorBinturong · 04/05/2026 21:52

CassOle · 04/05/2026 17:51

I wonder why there are so many discussions about the 'frog voice' issue, if testosterone gives a deep, male-sounding voice?

Testosterone increase during puberty in boys causes growth in both the vocal cords and the larynx. When taken by adult women it lengthens the vocal cords but doesn't increase the size of the larynx - which leaves the cords a bit looser, and therefore buzzier/froggier.

OP posts:
TempestTost · 05/05/2026 10:28

CassOle · 04/05/2026 17:51

I wonder why there are so many discussions about the 'frog voice' issue, if testosterone gives a deep, male-sounding voice?

This misses the point, surely?

Which was that cross sex hormones do have affects on physiology, sometimes significant ones.

Are we really going to say that isn't true so we can "prove" people can't change sex?