Women are from Venus and Men are from Mars? A Norwegian Documentary Quips Gender Theory

For some time now, a documentary that would be great to show in schools, or even simply to watch with family and friends, has been circulating on the web. It is useful for understanding how gender theory—or the theory holding that no biologial difference exists between men and women, and affirming on the other hand their greatest equality in every point of view—is scientifically unfounded.

The video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tiJVJ5QRRUE#t=14 with subtitles in english) was created with humor and irony not by a scientific journalist, but by Harald Meldal Eia, a Norwegian actor and documentary maker. His profession however, is not an indication that his work is unqualified or a joke; rather, it is of the highest quality, just like their interviewees are oustanding researchers in the social sciences field.

The video’s premise is based on the myth that Scandinavian countries are a beacon of equality and civility, where the parity between men and women is so rooted in reality that it blurs masculine and feminine roles.

This is what defines gender theory, which specifies that gender roles should be eliminated in order to free women from any social, psychological, historical, and cultural conditions that tie them to being women. Only in this way will an authentic and natural equality between the two sexes be achieved. Norway sought to do precisely this in the past few decades with strong political measures concerning social rights, and precise legal plans where women and men would be free to behave and choose in a way that is completely equal.

Different scientific studies—which the video proposes with pointedly light-hearted language—demonstrate that something does not add up. In a country like Norway where the level of equality between the two sexes is so high, and where therefore, according to gender theory, there should be a substantial parity in the inclinations and choices among men and women, the opposite is in fact observed. There is a greater difference in preference among the two genders, for example in the working world and professional choices. Stated differently, despite all the legal efforts for guaranteeing perfect gender equality, the two sexes’ behavior do not reflect the parity sought after so vigorously. Women continue to choose professions that are traditionally seen as “feminine” (such as nursing), while men on the other hand, follow traditionally “male” professions (like engineering). Nobody ever expected what this research showed: in reality beyond theory, it is the countries where the most equal education has been offered to boys and girls where a greater difference in definitive life choices exist between the two sexes.

This is the Norwegian paradox that the documentary seeks to highlight with concrete supporting research—research that is strong and valuable enough to underline how gender theory has a purely ideological, and not scientific, foundation.

The conclusion at which the researchers who are interviewed in the video arrive is that in deoveloping countries, work in the technological field—which is traditionally male—are seen as the best means for employment and social improvement. That is the reason why in India, for example, many women choose to be engineers. On the contrary, in more developed countries like Norway, where the level of civility and well-being allows citizens to make choices that are freer and not tied to the necessity of surviving, people are able to show more clearly, and without economic conditioning, all of their natural inclinations. We find therefore that a significant percentage of women choose activities that are more inclined to their nature such as teaching or nursing, rather than technical work. In summary: where greater educational freedom and freedom of expression exists, men and women express different choices. It is a refutation of gender theory which assumes that changing social conditions we well change nature, that the difference between men and women is just a bodily question.

In conclusion, one of the documentary’s immediate effects was the decision, by the Nordic Council of Ministers, to cut funding of the Nordic Gender Institute, provoking its closure. Before watching the documentary thereofre, we leave you with one last point of reflection: in light of the scientific research which demonstrates the strong, but natural difference beween men and women, couldn’t this be the correct diversity upon which we can build a future with dignity for every woman?