Men and women are made differently and possess different skills and attributes. This is one of those statements that used to be uncontroversial and incontrovertible, but in the last few years become politically incorrect to utter. Female applicants to the New York City Fire Department are held to a different standard than men in the interest of “fairness.” No word yet if fires and collapsing buildings play as “fair” as the entrance committee. The FDNY decided to bend its requirements so as not to subject itself to a gender discrimination lawsuit because admitting that men may be better physically suited for a job than women is now a fact we’re not allowed to state. Which makes this latest story from The Atlantic that much more amusing:

Female physicians actually tend to provide higher-quality medical care than males, according to research released today. If male physicians were as adept as females, some 32,000 fewer Americans would die every year—among Medicare patients alone.

To explain the discrepancy, the researchers point to past studies that have shown female physicians are more likely to provide preventive care and psychosocial counseling. Female doctors are also more likely to adhere to clinical guidelines. Though as Redberg and Parks note in an accompanying editorial today, adherence to clinical guidelines “does not always equate with quality or value of care.”

Instead they point to data that says female physicians “have a more patient- centered communication style, are more encouraging and reassuring, and have longer visits than male physicians.”

Indulge yourself in a thought experiment for a moment: What if an article like this had been written about male firefighters? If The Atlantic had written the following:

Male firefighters actually tend to provide higher-quality physical responses to the rigors of fighting fires, according to research released today. If female firefighters were as adept as males, some 32,000 fewer Americans would die every year in fires alone.

To explain the discrepancy, the researchers point to past studies that have shown male firefighters are more likely to be physically fit enough to meet the physical and emotional demands of their job.

The same group of people championing this study — who are the same people the City of New York feared would file a gender discrimination lawsuit — would be up in arms. How dare anyone, even researchers, draw a biological distinction between the sexes, especially if the distinction shows one is better suited for a profession than another. Of course, we know it’s culturally acceptable to do so, but only in order to champion the superiority of women.

The exact same story written one way is the epitome of feminism, but just switching the sexes turns it into misogyny. The Left is often unable to see its own hypocrisy, but this is one sure-fire tactic that should force introspection. If writing negatively about an entire gender, religious or racial group is only acceptable if certain groups are being disparaged, you’re a hypocrite.

How could a story like this, which involves important (though perhaps not unbiased) scientific research be portrayed in a non-hypocritical manner? If the Left wants the ability to point out the superiority of the female sex in a given way, it needs to be prepared to tolerate and accept the same of the male sex. In order to acknowledge that one sex may be superior than another in certain ways, it’s time to do away with the notion the sexes are interchangeable as well. That means a man named Bruce can’t be named Woman of Year by Glamour magazine because he’s begun wearing a dress, and its time to admit that in nearly all cases, women should be the primary recipients of parental leave benefits because only one parent is doing the birthing, recovering, nurturing and sometimes, nursing.

If the Left is willing to admit that men and women might not be the same, for consistency’s sake, it had better prepare for the consequences.

This article was republished with permission from The Acculturated.

Image Credit: Public Domain