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As you inferred at the end of your post, I'm not sure our personal experiences and inductive reasoning alone are the best indicators of gender distinctions.
I'm always amazed at the changes in culture-defined gender from generation to generation. I have a friend whose gaydar is completely inoperable when the object is under twenty-eight. She hasn't grasped that interests, modes of dress and behavior she'd grown up associating with gay people are now mainstreamed and straight as well.
But all of the common signifiers of gender seem gratuitous to me.
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I think there are real differences that transcend setting and some that are fashion. We can exaggerate or minimize.
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In the second, biology makes any man's need to prove his manhood redundant. If we're comfortable with ourselves, we shouldn't have to beat people to death with a preference that's obvious to anyone who bothers to look.
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Anamardoll: Understood.[/QUOTE]
You're right here. However, some masculine and feminine behaviors are either learned or capable/worthy of reinforcement. This is the idea behind the rules of chivalry and Emily Post.