As a young girl, I loved a scrappy heroine who could beat a boy in a fight. I was a gangly late bloomer, and I loved the idea that if I trained, I could win. After all, I saw it on the screen all the time.

Growing up and learning about the very real differences between men and women tempered those expectations, but I confess I still didn’t think the differences in strength were that drastic, until I jokingly challenged my then-boyfriend (now husband) to arm wrestle. He wasn’t keen on it, but rather than slam my arm down the second the match started, he very gently pushed it down.

Recommended Stories

Carlos Santana tells concert crowd: ‘God made you and me’ and ‘a woman is a woman and a man is a man’

The Cornell allegations and feminism’s double standard on female agency

The politically incorrect crisis: How society is failing boys and men