Sniffing Men Can Empathise…

Reports that empathy can be enhanced in men through a sniff of oxytocin compel me to respond that there are chemical-free ways for men to become more aware of their own feelings, and more responsive to the feelings of others. To suggest, as in this media report on the subject (see link, below)  that ‘women…are naturally more sensitive to the feelings of others’ is to perpetuate the myth that emotionality is sex-based. It is not. Emotionality is a set of learnt behaviours, cultural practices in which we engage according, in many instances, to how we think we are supposed to act. Most men don’t do empathy, not because they can’t but because they have been wrongly led to believe that it’s ’unmanly’. You don’t need to be shoving any artificial empathy gear up your nose, just be more attuned to the clutter and more daring in you choices. For those unfortunate men caught up in all that crap put out by the men’s rights movement and others, telling us that we are cold hard bastards hard-wired that way till death, the first step in empathising is to distinguish ourselves as people who can feel, can love, can care…

Nose Spray Makes Men ‘Sensitive’ 2010