Benzaiten wrote:
 
> A great deal depends on the definition of strength.
> When talking 
> about sheer brute force, men tend to be stronger
> than women, in 
> part because a) men tend to be larger than women,
> and b) men tend 
> to engage in more muscle-building activities--i.e.
> sports and the 
> like--than women.
> However, "strength" can also refer to endurance, and
> in that 
> case, women are better on the average. This probably
> has its 
> roots in the Paleolithic, when men hunted animals
> and women 
> gathered plant foods. Men developed the kind of
> muscles that were 
> good for explosive charges and bringing down
> powerful creatures, 
> and women developed the kind that were good for
> walking all day, 
> possibly carrying a baby, while looking for passive
> vegetables.
--------------------

hmm... i must say that you do have a point there.
however, i still don't think you're touching on the
whole picture. what everyone seems to be focused on is
still the amount of power and force preserved in the
upper body. in this case, yes, men are in fact
stronger than women. however, what i was trying to get
at is, in the case of a woman, most of our strength
lies in the lower portion of the body.

in your scenario, you pose the image of a woman that
walks all day, plus some cargo, thus referring to the
building of leg muscles. this is partially what i'm
trying to get at. if you take, say one of those
dancers from riverdance or lord of the dance, one male
and one female, which would you rather not get kicked
by? to me, it would be the woman i'd be more afraid
of. not only are their leg muscles highly developed,
but their center of gravity is much lower and hip
structure a lot wider. (umm... i'm only making an
overall observation here. no offense to anyone out
there) 

for the guy, his leg muscles would also be highly
developed; but because of a female's lower center of
gravity, it's much easier for a woman to use her legs
in defense than a guy would. it only took me a couple
weeks to perfect my spin kicks, while it took a friend
of mine around a year to get his right. for the guy,
more power is in the arms, because their center is
located much higher.
------------------
y'know, enough with this whole debate thing. i'm
wondering if anyone knows of my fanfic "Sons of the
Apocalypse"? i'm looking for some prereaders pretty
soon to help me out with proofreading the next
chapter. if anyone's interested, please email me:
wolfye13@yahoo.com. i would gladly appreciate it! thanx!
==
Wolfye, The Celestial Spirit Wolf
Creator and maintainer of Wolfye Productions
Email: wolfye13@yahoo.com
Visit my Domain at http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Teahouse/3035