From childhood, we notice a difference in writing between men and women. Recent discoveries in neuroscience and psychology explain why.
Our writing is a real psychological imprint that reflects certain personality traits. Between the fly’s legs of men’s writing and the often more loose and rounded letters of women’s letters, the difference is obvious. And it’s not just a preconceived idea: science confirms that women write on average more legibly than men. This gap would widen from primary school and remain visible into adulthood. But why such a contrast?
For a long time, biology was blamed: men simply had a brain “programmed” differently to hold a pen. To verify this, researchers observed the brains of volunteers writing using scanners. Surprise: men and women do not actually activate the same brain areas. But this is where the story gets interesting: scientists discovered that two people (a man and a woman) with exactly the same beautiful handwriting still used different areas of their brain. This proves that the quality of our writing does not depend on an innate biological circuit. Our brain simply adapts.
The real reason would actually be cultural and educational. As science popularizer Luis Villazón explains on the ScienceFocus media, our brain is modeled on our life experiences. From childhood, we do not expect the same things from girls and boys. Little girls are more often encouraged to be neat, to apply themselves and to develop their fine motor skills (via drawing or coloring). For boys, the emphasis is more on action or strength games. Result: if men write less well, it is quite simply because society values patience and care in writing less among them. Less expectations, therefore less training.
We also sometimes blame the fact that there are more left-handers among men, a characteristic often linked to less fluid writing (because of the hand rubbing on the ink). But here again, teachers and graphotherapists are unanimous: a left-handed person who trains can have magnificent handwriting. The real driving force remains the interest we have in it.
Don’t panic though, you shouldn’t generalize. Scientists point out that writing is not dictated by our genes, but by our habits. If, for example, you want your partner or your son to write better, then it’s not a question of chromosomes… he just needs a little more practice.
