Women are precious gifts – 11 reasons why

We value men. And we believe that men and women are designed to complement one another. So we also celebrate the differences between the sexes. But, because Wonderful Women is all about being good for women, this article only focuses on some of the unique and lovely qualities women have within.  

Soul Gifts

1.  Women have an inner need to move past surface relationships
We have a deeper interest in people, in forming relationships and in exploring feelings. Men tend to be more challenge-and-conquer driven, and therefore are more focused on practicalities that can be dealt with through logic.

2. We seek to experience love in its highest form
Very few men have an instinctive awareness of what a satisfying and loving relationship should be like. This is partly because men have less of a need to build intimate relationships. But also because they tend to shy away from anything they think will make them seem unmanly. To most this will include the idea of “getting all emotional.”

In the book If He Only Knew, written by Dr Gary Smalley and Steve Scott, published by Zondervan Publishing, it makes the point that women have a greater intuitive awareness of what it takes to develop a loving relationship. Because of sensitivity, women are more considerate of their partner’s feelings and inclined to want to bond and develop a rich, multi-dimensional relationship.

Smalley and Scott go on to say that since they don’t have an understanding of these vital areas through intuition, men rely solely upon the knowledge they acquired prior to marriage. And if the relationship between a man’s parents isn’t ideal, the man’s “education” could be flawed. (This is why men often enter marriage knowing a lot about sex and very little about genuine, unselfish love; which is not to say that men are more selfish than women; rather that at the start they may not long for or be very well equipped to know or show real love.)

3. We help to keep the lines of communication open
Women communicate more effectively than men. Not only do we talk through issues, we also have the ability to intuit and draw on non-verbal cues such as tone, emotion, and empathy whereas men have a hard time understanding emotions that are not explicitly verbalized.

 The reason for this is that two sections of the brain responsible for language are larger in women than in men. Also, men only process language in the dominant hemisphere, while women process language in both hemispheres of the brain.

This explains why men and women sometimes have difficulty communicating and why male friendships look different from friendships between women.

 4. We are group-aware problem solvers, sensitive to people’s feelings
Men and women are equally skilled at problem solving. But the typical woman is sensitive of feelings while communicating during the problem solving process. She will also tend to focus on finding a solution that works for the group.

Women have the ability to process data gathered from multiple sources simultaneously and we tend to take a broad view of how elements connect. Because of this, we may be prone to become overwhelmed with complexities that may or may not exist, and can have difficulty separating our personal experience from problems.

Men are prone to minimize and may fail to appreciate subtleties that can be crucial to success. Men tend to work through a problem repeatedly, talking about the same thing over and over, rather than trying to address the problem all at once. 

For most women, sharing and discussing a problem presents an opportunity to explore, deepen or strengthen the relationship with the person they are dealing with or talking with. So the process of problem solving can strengthen or weaken a relationship.

To men, solving a problem presents an opportunity to demonstrate their competence and their commitment to a relationship. How the problem is solved is not nearly as important as solving it well. Also, men have a tendency to dominate and to assume authority during the problem solving process. And they set aside their feelings. Consequently, they tend to become distracted and not too focused with the quality of the relationship while they are immersed in the problem solving process.

5. One with our environment, we love to improve and beautify  

Women have a characteristic that explains some of our behaviours; for instance why we strive to make our homes, ourselves and our families look attractive. We have a built-in drive to improve things and add touches of beauty. This makes sense if you think we were designed to nurture children. The role demands a need to LOVE improving people! That’s why we always look to improve our children and sometimes our husbands. Taken too far though, this can result in materialism and over-controlling with criticism.

Dr. Cecil Osborne, in his book The Art of Understanding Your Mate, said women become an intimate part of the people they know and the things that surround them; they enter into a kind of “oneness” with their environment. Though a man relates to people and situations, he usually doesn’t allow his identity to become entwined with them. He somehow remains apart. That’s why a woman, viewing her home or children as an extension of herself, can be hurt if they are criticized by others.

6. We have emotional recall

Women have the unique ability to recall information, events or experiences in which there are strong emotional components or a common emotional theme.

7. We are natural carers
Women have a larger deep limbic system than men, which allows us to be more in touch with our feelings which promotes bonding with others. Because of this ability to connect, more women than men serve as caregivers.

Body Gifts

8. Only women have been entrusted with the ability to host life 
This means that not only do we have the wonderful privilege of knowing how it feels to have life growing in us, but that we also have the ability to breast feed.

9. We are fashioned perfectly for loving our men and children
Our bodies are shapelier and softer than a man’s (we have a higher percentage of fat), so we can appeal visually to our husband and cleave seamlessly to him. Our softness is also a great source of physical comfort for our children when we cuddle them.

10. We spot danger faster and deal with it differently to men
Women have an enhanced physical alarm response to danger or threat. Also, whereas men have a "fight or flight" response to stress situations, women have a "tend and befriend" strategy. Psychologist Shelley E. Taylor coined this phrase after recognizing that in times of stress women take care of themselves and their children (tending) and form strong group bonds (befriending).

The reason for these different reactions to stress is rooted in hormones. The hormone oxytocin is released during stress in everyone. However, oestrogen tends to enhance oxytocin resulting in calming and nurturing feelings whereas testosterone, which men produce in high levels during stress, reduces the effects of oxytocin.

11. We are designed to keep going
According to Dr. Paul Popenoe, founder of the American Institute of Family Relations in Los Angeles Woman has greater constitutional vitality, perhaps because of our unique chromosome makeup. Women normally outlive men by three or four years.

To conclude, let’s imagine a world without women.

According to author Ed Silvoso “It would lack softness, tenderness, nurture and refined beauty. Men have these qualities, but they project them in smaller dosages, whereas women overflow with them. Without women the world would look like an army base with everything painted white or grey, designed for efficiency at the expense of beauty . . . an awful sense of incompleteness would permeate the planet.” - From the book “Women, God’s Secret Weapon’’.