10 ‘superpowers’ women possess that are biologically impossible for men

The woman’s body is often thought of as simply an average body. However, the more we learn about evolutionary biology, the more we understand that the women’s genome has been specifically adapted for a different form of highly efficient survival. From how the brain interprets sensory information all the way down to having two sets of immune system genes on its X chromosome (which accounts for the fact that females, on average, have a higher immunity to disease than males), a great number of characteristics that make females biologically unique do not get recognised. Here are some examples of physiological accomplishments performed by women with much greater levels of efficiency than men.

Women have shown on multiple occasions that they demonstrate a higher biological tolerance for sustained, chronic-type pain than men. It has been suggested that women utilise separate neurological pathways from men for processing these signals to provide some level of evolutionary advantage to women in terms of having to endure the traumatic effects of childbirth and to sustain high levels of endurance and resilience during long periods of sustained physical stressors.

PC: Google Gemini

According to some neurological research, women, on average, exhibit higher functional resonance within the mirror neuron system than men, which allows them to have an increased biological capacity to read micro-expressions and small changes in emotions in others than their male counterparts and are associated with consistently having higher average scores in emotional intelligence and social cognition in various psychological studies.

PC: Google Gemini

Statistical evidence suggests that women are more often ‘supertasters’ than their male counterparts. Researchers from Yale University have found that women exhibit greater amounts of fungiform papillae (taste buds) on their tongue than men; therefore, women are capable of detecting bitter, sweet, or fatty flavours to a greater extent than their male counterparts.

PC: Google Gemini

Evolutionary biologists believe that females have a higher density of rods and cones in the peripheral portion of their retinas. As a result, females have a larger ‘natural’ field of vision, enabling them to detect motion at the edges of their field of vision than males, who tend to possess ‘tunnel’ vision, which tends to be better for tracking objects over longer distances.

PC: Google Gemini

Bone density of women typically tends to be lower than that of men, while body fat distribution tends to be higher in women compared to men. Researchers tested buoyancy, with the conclusion being that these differences between male and female body composition result in a lower average specific gravity, providing natural buoyancy to the female body structure. Therefore, female bodies require less energy or work to remain above the waterline in relation to their body size.

PC: Google Gemini

The reason behind the longer lifespan of women compared to men can mainly be attributed to having a second X chromosome and lower levels of visceral fat. Studies done by the World Health Organisation indicate that nearly all female populations around the world tend to live longer than males do. This tendency for females to live longer than their male counterparts has been substantiated by the presence of this genetic structure, which helps shield and protect cellular structure from degradation associated with ageing.

PC: Google Gemini

Research has shown that estrogen serves as an important protector against cellular/muscular damage. Some studies also demonstrate that women’s muscles tend to recover from intense exercise at a significantly faster rate than men’s and that women will experience significantly less ‘neuromuscular fatigue’ than men when undertaking endurance-based tasks, allowing women to return to their peak level of performance much more quickly than men.

PC: Google Gemini

From a biological perspective, women generally have a higher body fat percentage and a more efficient metabolic rate in terms of how they metabolically store energy. Historical accounts of extreme famines have indicated that women outperformed men in terms of how long they survived in total calorie deprivation conditions because their bodies had a more biologically dense source of energy to tap into for longer periods of time during extreme calorie deficiency than do men.

PC: Google Gemini

Also, men have just one X chromosome, while women have two X chromosomes. Since the X chromosome is rich in immune system genes, women are better able to produce antibodies and will mount a significantly greater inflammatory immune response to viral infections and vaccines than men will, and thus women are benefiting from ‘X-inactivation mosaicism,’ which provides a diverse array of immune strategies against pathogens that they are in contact with from the external environment.
PC: Google Gemini

In a landmark study in PLOS ONE, women were found to have as many as 50 per cent more olfactory bulbs, i.e., neurons capable of detecting smells, in their brains than do men. This increased biological hardware enables women to have a significantly higher level of sensitivity to complex environmental odours, subtle changes in the chemical composition of their environment, and to various pheromone signals that men are unable to detect.

PC: Google Gemini