[jstalin]

It's not popular these days to claim that there are differences between men and women.

[ergothus]

Is it? I know it's not popular to say things like "women can't do this" or "women aren't as good at this", but I've not actually heard someone say that men and women don't have differences. A great many of those differences are socialization, not biology, but even then there are physical differences.

For example, I know lots of people that want women to be able to be in combat roles in the military. I've not heard anyone suggest that any qualification standard that actually applies to fitness to do so be lowered. Given the biological range of the genders, this would mean that:

* there would be women who physically qualify * that number would be less than men that physically qualify

...and everyone seems okay with this.

Frankly, I've heard far more people get angry about some theoretical upset person than I've ever seen actual upset persons.

[goatlover]

It's funny though, because I've heard tons of women, many of them progressive, from 20s to 60s, who eagerly acknowledge differences between men and women.

I have to think hard to recall otherwise. Usually it would be in context of a specific argument. Maybe I just don't know any hard core feminists.

[Shendare]

Of course, acknowledging and appreciating differences differs greatly from enforcing differences.

[comicjk]

I have traveled in some of the most socially liberal circles in the US, and I have to disagree with you about what's popular - or at least make it much more specific. It's not popular to claim that there are significant, biologically-determined, mental differences between men and women. Small differences, cultural differences, and corporeal differences are all accepted. This zeitgeist may still be incorrect, but it's not terrible as a heuristic.

[robertk]

Popularity and truth are correlated but sometimes orthogonal.