Mr Holden,
As a woman, I have to say that I find your deterministic generalisations about the innate nature of women and men extremely unsatisfying.

In my lifetime I have known some very un-nurturing women, and some very nurturing men.

There are many factors other than hormones at work in fashioning the nature of an individual.

Freud's notion that the the most perfect love is that which occurs between mother and son is, sadly, romantic twaddle.

What do you think about same sex marriage, I wonder?

Brian – Briar Rose regards your article as “deterministic twaddle”.

From what you have written it seems that you hold to a materialistic view of the universe. If that is so then I would say that your deterministic approach does not go anywhere near far enough and that Briar Rose’s criticism is nowhere near strong enough.

If materialism is true then determinism is absolute. We are all just chemical robots with no control whatsoever over what we do, say, or think. Everything that happens is just unintended consequences arising from the nature of matter.

Nothing can be otherwise than it is.

People usually don’t like to think that is true, but in a materialistic world that is logically and unavoidably the case. Maybe then materialism is not true after all?

Yes Your Honour, but my hormones made me do it.

Within a Christian perspective headship is service to others not self. The emergence of the USA as an economic power was driven by the Judaic/Christian ethos of servant leader. What we now have in the ‘isms’ is self service, looking to one’s interests before others.

It is a delusion to think men have provided the majority of leadership solely through strength. But what was that leadership? “The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world” did not appear in a vacuum; it is based on experience – but what form does the ruling take?

I think the real question is not about an ism and its claims but rather a matter of whether life is about self or something else.

Agree with Briar Rose, Brian Holden manages to denigrate the abilities of both men and women.

All women are naturally nurturers, all men are naturally warriors.

B.S.

'There is one male-female relationship that works well. It is the mother-son relationship.' Rubbish - some mothers and sons have absolutely toxic relationships. Freud has a lot to answer for with his fixation on the mother-son relationship. We have been paying the price for his unnatural pre-occupation with his mother far too long. As for the rest of the article, it is shallow drivel. Could we have some quality control please, OLO?

The best male-female relationships are usually between gay men and straight women.