It was just two days ago that I wrote that I recommend The Female Brain by Louann Brizendine, MD. I do recommend it and Lynn seems to like all her books, too. So, it is not just words that are obvious to a mature and experienced woman. However, last night we read the 3rd chapter of "The Upgrade", the book about women's brains after menopause. Wow! Once the doctor (and mother herself) starts going through what the whole female entity has been doing for around 50 years, it is so complicated and there are so many operations that are starting and stopping all the time, it is amazing, to me, that women have any time to think of anything else.
I read way back that some Hebrew thinkers in ancient times expressed wonder that women were often so eager to be mothers even though childbirth was clearly dangerous for them. I can totally sympathize with such a thought. One fact that seems to support the idea that the female arrangement is "better" than the male design is that women tend to live longer than men.
Dr. Brizendine emphasizes that desire for men and for motherhood are not just whims that come to female minds. She explains hormones and those chemicals have very important effects on minds and especially on thoughts and goals, on what is wanted and what is of interest and important. Sometimes, living creatures are said to have two needs, staying alive and reproducing. So, we breathe, drink and eat and we have sex. If we breathe, drink and eat, we may still fail to survive. Beasties, high cliffs, big rock falling, lightning strikes, volcano eruptions and warfare may end our lives. Just as living is a somewhat iffy deal, so is reproduction.
I think the current arguments about abortions (our planet is over-populated with humans already) have turned in some cases to a new slogan: Life begins at ejaculation. I think that is true. When the cute little sperm finally meets the lovely egg, life processes begin. So males produce some fine half-seeds but females do too, and then they nurse the growth internally and externally, more or less for the rest of that female's life. Just because the fetus grows, is born, matures and even reproduces, doesn't mean that the mother stops caring and loving and being concerned.
But, after about 50 years of fertility, those female systems shift quite dramatically and female brains get an upgrade.
