Advantages to being female ("AFAB").
Biological differences in being female are often discussed negatively in order to indicate our disadvantages and where and how we are exploited within patriarchal societies.
On Ovarit, there was a thread in which users shared some biological differences to being female that illuminated our strengths. While of course biological differences in males vs. females is directly rooted in reproductive evolutionary strategy (whether someone develops down a reproductive pathway geared towards an overall reproductive system that supports gestating life and creating larger ova vs. not) I thought I would share some examples of advantages not directly connected to childbirth and childbearing. This is not an exhaustive list.
We are more flexible than male people.
We have better stamina and endurance in some extreme long-distance sports in comparison to male people (such as in ultra-marathons).
Some animals (especially other mammals such as wolves, horses, cats, etc.) are instinctively threatened by males, even if they have never been harmed by them. This is not the case with women.
We have better immune systems and survive viruses better than male people.
We survive famines and epidemics overall better than male people.
We survive variations in temperature overall better than male people.
We have better sense of smell than men.
Our chromosomes provide us with extra protection against certain genetic diseases like hemophilia, and we have more genetic diversity.
We have better balance due to our center of gravity being lower, in our pelvis's, while males have their center of gravity in their torsos. This makes us naturally better at sports like rock-climbing, gymnastics, certain martial arts, etc.
"The male fetus is at greater risk of death or damage from almost all the obstetric catastrophes that can happen before birth.2 Perinatal brain damage,3 cerebral palsy,4 congenital deformities of the genitalia and limbs, premature birth, and stillbirth are commoner in boys,5 and by the time a boy is born he is on average developmentally some weeks behind his sister: âA newborn girl is the physiological equivalent of a 4 to 6 week old boy.â
Women and girls have better color perception than males.
We're biologically better suited to being astronauts and living in space (note: and this was discovered 15 years ago yet this work was never published)
Some articles (debatable on credibility) suggest that we are better able to withstand complete sensory deprivation for several hours in comparison to men, who were able to withstand complete sensory deprivation for minutes.
For unknown reasons, we do not experience the same percentage of macular degeneration that men do in space.
We have a different adrenaline response. Our hormone systems work differently and so we do not lose as much decision making ability and fine motor control as men do in a crisis, making us better snipers and pilots thanks to our reaction time.
We have better life expectancy overall.