Do men and women view time differently? Part 2

Men Time and Women Time was a subject I raised in the preceding reflection. Do men and women perceive time differently? Ruth Klein in “Time Management Secrets for Working Women” states:

“I find that women view time far differently from men. Women often perceive time as an enemy that prevents them from getting it all done, all the time. For some reason society has decided that even when a woman works she is still responsible for making sure that everything gets done at home—and to this end she never has enough time. It’s true that men also want to accomplish more in less time, but that nearly always means accomplishing tasks at work, with their hobbies, or with outside interests at home.”

A search on Google finds that several people have commented on the difference between men and women in respect to views of time. Personally, I have not yet seen anything I find convincing evidence that we do indeed view time differently. However, a great deal of anecdotal evidence would seem to support that there may be a difference in views. It has often been noted that men tend to see the world more linearly while women think more in terms of cycles. This may be due to the fact that with childbirth, women are more wired to think in terms of cycles. Men were once the hunters while women were the gatherers. Could these chores have led to a difference in how men see the world? Men seem to be more prone to certain forms of violence and accept aggression as more necessary than women do. How many wars have been started by women or even by men over issues that women would find important? The same is probably true for most fights.

Men also live shorter lives than women. While the difference in life spans is negligible, could it in some way contribute to a difference in how each gender sees the world? Even the way that men and women approach sex suggests that there may be a difference in the way that each perceives time. Men are ready for sex in the twink of an eye and are over in about the same time. Women approach sex more slowly and once ready will easily outlast most men.

What do you think about this question? If you were asked whether men and women viewed time differently, what would you answer? Do you think you view the world differently than the other gender? How? What are the differences you perceive? What do you think are the reasons for these differences?