Aromatization: The answers to my "girly-ness"?
So here's my whole shpeel (is that how you spell it?) on this term aromatization that I've been talking so passionately about. It's really interesting and something I would LOVE to research into if I ever get to that level...
It's about hormones (just a disclaimer).
Testosterone and estrogen are the key hormones to forming the male/female body. Testosterone is what builds up the physical body of a male and estrogen is what builds up the female's body. And for your perverts out there, it's not just differences in sexual parts like the penis and vagina -______- And don't expect this post to be about such things either. Hormones (like testosterone and estrogen) are key components to different brain development between genders as well. And this is what interested me the most. I learned that the brains of men and women are very different to each other, which explains why each gender behaves so differently from one another. Testosterone may influence parts of the brain that bring out more of a masculine gender role, while estrogen may influence parts of the brain that bring out more of a feminine role.
For example: Research scientists placed both men and women in a room to just mingle around with each other. After a few minutes, they were all taken out and asked some questions (regarding memory and spatial processing). What the results came out to be were that women were able to remember more of objects/conversations that were in the room while they were mingling. Men, however, were able to remember more of their sense of placement/direction (spatial processing). If we look at the brains of a man and a woman we can see that the hippocampus (part of the brain that specializes in memory) of a woman is significantly bigger compared to a man's. While the right hemisphere (where the ability of spatial processing is found) of the brain is significantly bigger in men compared to women. There are many other examples of brain differentiations between a man and woman that are obvious to note even as we observe each gender's behaviors.
I don't know why I'm using the words "man" and "woman" when I could use "male" and "female". Just gonna switch to that now. Sounds more scientific :]
You ever wonder why male's make stupider mistakes and in general are more immature compared to female's during those teenage years? It's because the prefrontal cortex of a female matures way faster compared to a male's. The prefrontal cortex is the main part of the brain that specializes in executive functions like abilities to differentiate among confliction problems, determining good and bad, future consequences of current activities, social "control", etc.
Or maybe you have wondered why women are naturally better at areas of language compared to men? It's because the left hemisphere of the brain in a female is larger compared to a male. The left hemisphere part of the brain is where language abilities are mostly found.
What I'm trying to get to you guys as of now is that the brain parts of a male and female are different due to the exposure of the gender's respective hormones that it needs. And that's what can constitute the different things of how a male behaves compared to how a female behaves.
BUT HERE IS WHERE IT GETS EXCITING AND WHERE MY PASSION LINGERS!
Did you guys know that men have estrogen in them as well? I was kind of shocked when I heard this, but it's true! Aromatization is a process where a small percentage (apparently a VERY SMALL percentage) of a man's testosterone turns into estrogen. It's a natural process that all guys have actually. It's so small of a change that it doesn't really make a difference in the development of a physical male body. What I am questioning is how small of that percentage that testosterone turns to estrogen is "small"? How small is that?
People tend to make fun of me and tease me at times of being girly. What portrays this girly-ness of me? I like bright colors like baby blue and pink. I like cute things. I am self-conscious of getting fat. I like to take care of my skin. I like to act happy and smiley and all that instead of tough and "manly". I'm more emotional and sensitive compared to other guys. ETC. ETC. ETC.
What I can't help but to question about this term called Aromatization is. What if I have different parts my brain that are influenced more by estrogen compared to testosterone that makes me into this "girly" kind of person. Maybe I'm more of an emotional/sensitive person compared to other guys because my part of the brain that specializes in this area is bigger compared to other males. That can be one example. What I'm wondering is if this process of Aromatization can occur at a faster pace in some males compared to other males. How "small" is that "small percentage" that turns testosterone into estrogen? Maybe my "small" was a little bit bigger compared to others that it developed some parts of my brain that may sympathize more with females than males, whether that be bright colors, Disney movies, or sensitivity to different situations.
I think it's quite interesting :] and something to look into.
