OBSERVATION: when the "men are logical, women are emotional" claim is made, there often an ambiguous or inconsistent use of what being "emotional" means.

This doctor is no exception. Peep his tweets below.

Do you see it? Yes? No?

Let's talk about it.

(Thread ) https://twitter.com/GbemmyG/status/1309819563954122752

When "being emotional" is discussed, it often includes (but isn't limited to):

1) Emoting (aka expressing emotions)
2) Experiencing or feeling emotions
3) Making emotionally-driven decisions

Our human experience proves that these three things are not interchangeable.

For example, it is one thing to be sad (#2) and it is another to cry (#1). And it is another thing to make a decision or approach an issue based on this emotional experience of sadness (#3).

Can they accompany each other? Sure. MUST they always accompany each other? No.

That things can happen together ≠ they are the same.

Now to "our fave online doc's" tweets. In the 2nd tweet, after claiming that men are more logical than emotional, he says, "...it doesn't mean...that men are incapable of emotions."

This is ambiguous. This could mean #2 (feeling emotions) or #1 (expressing emotions).

But his 3rd tweet is where things get really interesting. He begins his tweet by saying, "Again," suggesting that he is repeating himself.

But this "repetition" does not involve the same definition of "emotional."

He says, "Men and women don’t TEND TO think exactly alike or approach issues the same way."

This is no longer about the ability/inability to express (#1) or experience (#2) emotions as seen in this previous statement, "...it doesn't mean...that men are incapable of emotions."

Here, hiis statement, "Men and women don’t TEND TO think exactly alike or approach issues the same way" is about decision-making/approach. Given the context, this is in line with definition #3 of emotional: making emotionally-driven decisions. That being the domain of women.

(Side note: Men do not think exactly alike and neither do women as the sexes are not monoliths, so I'm not sure what he was trying to accomplish by making that statement. Also, differences in thinking ≠ a logic vs. emotion argument. But I digress. )

What is also interesting are people (namely men) responding with quips saying that the disapproving responses prove his point. But his point is not sound as he is not consistent in what he means by emotional.

These men are strongly-worded with their tweets armed with articles that they claim proves "our fave doc's" point.

Let's look at some of those articles, shall we?

Here's one of them. It says, "There are empathisers, who are good at identifying how other people are thinking or feeling, and there are systemisers, people who are more interested in trying to take apart & analyse systems i.e. people who are a bit nerdy." https://twitter.com/itee800/status/1309819069630214144?s=20

In the doctor's tweets, being emotional meant expressing or feeling emotion & emotional approach. But he didn't say anything about "identifying how other people are thinking or feeling" (the claim made in the article that the male twitter user says "agrees w/ all Doc has said").

Being better at empathizing ≠ expressing emotion ≠ feeling emotion.

That's not to even mention the critics who say that this pattern doesn't prove that this difference is innate. We are not just the product of our biologies. We are also the product of our environments.

(It's also worth noting the irony of the poster of that article who wrote from an obviously irritated and thus, dare I say, emotionally-charged place in response to the push back Dr. Olufunmilayo is getting. )

Here's another tweet, again, written to prove that "men are more logical."

Similar to the previous article, this one states how women are generally better at empathizing and men are generally better at systemizing (analysing/building rule based systems). https://twitter.com/Fliikey/status/1309886660595847169?s=20

Unlike the other article, however, this one shows the impact autism has on these differences between men & women.

But like I said with the previous article, this article doesn't bolster the claim Dr. Olufunmilayo made considering his use of "emotional" compared to the article's.

Another fascinating thing is how both men and women are quite clearly making emotionally-charged responses while talking about Dr. Olufunmilayo's tweets; a number of women responding unfavorably to his tweet and a number of men responding to those women.

But it is only women's emotional expression that, according to some of these men, proves Dr. Olufunmilayo's point.

But the apparent emotions of men clearly annoyed and irritated by the disagreement is met with crickets.

This is an obvious bias.

If folks are using emotional to mean being emoting (expressing emotion), we cannot say it is necessarily the opposite of logic.

For example, I can have someone commit to doing an important ask for me, the task does not get done, and logically conclude that they did not honor their commitment. If I am visibly upset at this (aka emotional), I am not being irrational nor am I being illogical.

As for the studies in this thread and others I have seen posted in reference Dr. Olufunmilayo's tweets, it is important to note that those studies do not function as predictors of the sexes' specific behaviors in the countless interpersonal dilemmas and situations...

...we find ourselves in, situations that are loaded with our biases, affinities, difficulties, and nuances.

I'll leave you with the following:

1) If one is to make the argument that "women are more emotional and men are more logical," that individual must be consistent with the way logic and emotion are being categorized.

2) If women's emotional expression is seen as proof of emotion/irrationality but men's emotion goes without reaction, you have an opportunity to ruminate on a bias you hold.

3) These experimental results regarding sex differences do not account for specific behaviors in real-life interpersonal scenarios nor do they serve as predictors of them. It's important we don't make leaps that are not substantiated because our bias drives us to do so.

4) I am a woman o, so take every I said here with a grain of salt since I'm (on AVERAGE) not as logical as my male counterparts and I am more emotional.

Whatever that means.

Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.

*everything (UGH)

If critical thinking and introspection are your thing, I created this with you in mind. https://twitter.com/cerebralistic/status/1227649698929889280