weight is as 90:100, whereas her body weight is to the male's only as 83:100. If we then were to raise the female's body weight to the equivalent proportion of the male, namely, 100 units, then one would have to add 17 units to the existing 90 for the female proportion of the brain to that of the male, yielding a figure of 107 for the female as compared with 100 for the male. That is the proportion that most investigators have found when allowance has been made for body size. When one eliminates body fat from the weight of both sexes, the difference in brain weight in favor of the female is further increased.
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Let us illustrate these facts in a simpler manner. As stated previously, we find that among Europeans the average brain weight of men is 1,385 grams, or 3 pounds and 1 ounce, while that of women is 1,265 grams, or 2 pounds and 12 ounces. Now, if the weight of the brain is considered in relation to the weight of the body, it will be found that women possess the relatively heavier brain. The average body weight of man is about 143 pounds, while that of woman is about 121 pounds; thus the average body weight of the male is about 22 pounds greater than that of the average female. Upon calculation it will be found that while man has 1 ounce of brain weight for every 47 ounces of body weight, woman has 1 ounce of brain weight for every 43 ounces of body weight. Roughly speaking, then, the brain weight of woman constitutes about 2 percent of the weight of the body, while the brain weight of a man is only 1 percent of his body weight.
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How the mighty have fallen! But only from the rickety structure men have rather disingenuously erected to create a case for their own superior brain weight. As far as intelligence is concerned, it must be reiterated, the facts about brain weight prove that if there were any relation (within the normal range of variation of brain weights) between these two factors, the advantage would be with women; but since there is no such relation, the case against women on the basis of brain weight is completely demolished, as could be the case that might be argued against the intelligence of the male on the same grounds. So much, then, for the myth of brain weight and intelligence. Should anyone, however, for a moment think that this disposes of the brain boosters, let them prepare themselves for a shock: The brain boosters have other arguments.
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Granting that the female has a slight relative superiority of brain size or brain weight, what about the size, shape, and
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