Editorial

Vive la Difference!

Authors: John Standridge, MD

Abstract

Vive la difference! Sex differences in childhood prompt little boys to play with guns and little girls to play with dolls—admittedly a fading stereotype. As adults, men are from Mars and women are Venusian. Do seniors also reflect sex differences or does a socialization-of-aging process somehow eventually amalgamate and homogenize the two sexes? Beyond the hormonal and muscle mass differences, beyond the archeological history that men are hunters and warriors and women are nurturers and fertility goddesses, beyond the commercial images of the present day, there exists our aging and vulnerable male and female patients. How should our relationship, communication, and focus vary with respect to sex differences in the aging individual?

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