Men's role in primitive human society was a rather brutal one - to hunt and compete with other males for mates. From a biological point of view, they were somewhat superfluous after the act of copulation (as women were able to find food, though not necessarily hunt), so they were designed to play hard and die young, preferably finding protein rich foods. Their female counterparts on the other hand, were designed (and when I mean designed I mean modified over thousands of years by natural selection) to live long as so to have, and raise (the raising being long term and thus differentiating them from males) as many children as possible.

It is rather obvious then that in the gym, men lift heavier weights and pull faster ergos. The physiology from outward appearances to fundamental cell metabolism is designed to do just that. Their physical adaptations are built for speed and strength, and rowers epitomize that design. It's therefore not surprising that "women who are successful in athletic sports, are by enlarge those most physiologically like men." - Desmond Morris. Look at Olympic athletes and this is easy to see.

But to understand possibly the most crucial aspect, we need to see why they are different.

The rather paltry Y-gene with a mere 25 genes as apposed to the 1000 to 1500 strong X gene kicks into action a chain of events, starting with the development of testes from primitive foetal matter. These testes produce a hormone testosterone which is to change the life of the former baby ‘girl' forever, and there is no part of the body where is this change is more influential than in the epicentre of our very being - the brain.

It would be ludicrous to think that the hormones responsible for physically shaping us leave our brains alone, and now there are very few, if any, people that dispute that the brains of males and females are physiologically different. Studies show that right from the word go newborn babies' minds tick in a different way. Both male and female minds are drawn to, and experience the world around them, but it is how they perceive and deal with stimuli, that is of particular interest. Obviously generalisations are made, and the reality is that most people have a mix of all these features, but there are definitely some biological trends that stem from physiological differences.

Women's perceptual skills are oriented to quick--call it intuitive--people reading. Females are better at detecting the feelings and thoughts of others, inferring intentions, absorbing contextual clues and responding in emotionally appropriate ways. They empathize. Tuned to others, they more readily see alternate sides of an argument. Such empathy fosters communication and primes females for attachment. Women, in other words, seem to be hard-wired for a top-down, big-picture take. Men focus first on minute detail, and operate most easily with a certain detachment. They construct rules-based analyses of the natural world, inanimate objects and events. In the coinage of Cambridge University psychologist Simon Baron-Cohen, Ph.D., they systemize. These features have massive implications on the way that men and women implement and respond to technical calls, and to the boat around them. Differences in brain cells can be seen in several brain regions: males have more and bigger neurons in one region of the hypothalamic forebrain, for example, and there are also differences in the hippocampus, amygdala and frontal cortex.

Women, (and this is a huge neurological topic) are much more susceptible to depression, particularly as a stress response. Their brains don't handle stress as well, so it's absolutely crucial that you try and help this. Staying positive and finding ways to help them deal with this is of massive importance. This year, 19 million Americans will suffer a serious depression. Two out of three will be female. Over the course of their lives, 21.3 percent of women and 12.7 percent of men experience at least one bout of major depression. The female preponderance in depression is virtually universal. And it's specific to unipolar depression. Males and females suffer equally from bipolar, or manic, depression. However, once depression occurs, the clinical course is identical in men and women. Adding injury to insult, women's bodies respond to stress differently than do men's. They pour out higher levels of stress hormones and fail to shut off production readily. The female sex hormone progesterone blocks the normal ability of the stress hormone system to turn itself off. Sustained exposure to stress hormones kills brain cells, especially in the hippocampus, which is crucial to memory. It's bad enough that females are set up biologically to internally amplify their negative life experiences. They are prone to it psychologically as well, finds University of Michigan psychologist Susan Nolen-Hoeksema, Ph.D. Women ruminate over upsetting situations, going over and over negative thoughts and feelings, especially if they have to do with relationships. Too often they get caught in downward spirals of hopelessness and despair. Under the mental, physical and emotional strain of grueling training, this is particularly important. It is why in many ways being a cox of a women's crew is a full time job whereas with men, you are more able to leave it at the boat club. It also suggests why generally male coxes aren't as effective as female coxes in cross gender situations - they lack the empathy and emotional skills to be able to give support to the crew they are attached to. And who ever said that women were demanding souls?

On the other side of the coin, for an novice cox, a group of experienced women might offer the best chance of improvement via education. Women are much more sensitive to the boat, and to what others are doing around them. They'll also be more communicative with the cox, and hopefully in a constructive way. Better able to communicate and pass on skills, it's likely they'll be more patient with the cox trying to remember a million things at once. However, don't think that it's an easy social ride. With the social and emotional skills come the games that women play. Men's crews tend to have simpler politics and be far better at leaving "boat's at the boathouse" i.e. leaving what's gone on or happened at training in a training context, instead of dragging it into a social context. They are also much more up-front about it, and whilst this often comes out as more aggressive and confrontational, it does make the politics a lot simpler. Whilst John will have a go at James in the changing room about his slow catches and poor ergo, Jess won't say anything, but harbor resentment at Janet, tell Jane, file it under grievances, and bring it up at an appropriate moment. With women you have to play the socioemotional politics game, and for many people, this is what drives them away. Its rower syndrome - you can't get away from it on or off the water.

The general mantra can be formed and applied to most situations, is that men are built to fight, and women are built to survive. It can be applied to anything, from technical "if I pull harder we'll go faster" vs. "let's get some run on the boat, it's not set" to motivational goals "I want to beat the opposition" vs. "I want to make this boat go fast".

"But why is all of this relevant to coxing?"

Well the simple answer should be in the physiological chasm that I am trying to illuminate. To get the most out of a crew, both coach and cox must be as knowledgeable as possible about what makes their athletes tick, and clearly from both a physical and a mental stand-point these are likely to be quite different things.

From a coxes point of view, this is never more apparent than in motivation. From personal experience alone, many of the people who read this article will have realized that a call that transformed a men's crew into a well oil, powerful, efficient, single entity can utterly destroy a women's crew. Physiologically, men are more competitive and aggressive. Calls that awaken this and capitalize on this are therefore going to be highly effective. "They're weak, you're stronger!" or "Are you going to let them have you?!?!" appeal to this in them. Women on the other hand, seem to need more persuasion and positive reinforcement. "That's good girls, now let's take another seat!" or "I know you can do this, we CAN push through them!" would be more female orientated calls. You need to work a lot harder to keep women competitive - they tend to give up the fight more quickly than men. Your role therefore as a cox in this situation is absolutely crucial. You have to keep the fight in them, and that's a much bigger job in a women's boat. They are also a lot more perceptive, and can tell a lot more from the tone of your voice. Shouting and being ‘big' in the cox seat might bluff you through a men's race, but the girls will see right through you. With the increased emotional and empathetic skills, there is also an element of judgment. An established women's crew will look at a cox and examine her before he/she's even got on the water. Who is she? Why is she here? Is she going to stay? Etc. are all raised and asses (even on a subconscious level) before her coxing skills have even been appraised. A men's crew on the other hand, look at the smaller picture first - "how good a cox is he/she" before opening up the scope for debate on the new-comer.

If that was all lost on you, think of it this way. Cars are designed to go places. Petrol is wonderful stuff and makes some engines go really rather well. However, stick it in my Dad's Volvo diesel (which he swears by, bless him!) and you wouldn't get very far. My point is that as a cox, your calls are the fuel. You have to learn what kind of an engine (crew) you're running, and how to fine tune it to get the most out of it. You have to listen to your engine, fix it when it's broken, and when it's raring to go you have to have that faith and confidence to put pedal to the metal knowing that all the time and hard work you spent on it will come through. Know your car inside out, learn to diagnose what's wrong and how to fix it and you're half-way to driving it.

Of course, these are very large generalizations, and in athletic terms, it is those women physiologically most like men who are often the most successful. I am sure that many people have had completely dissimilar experiences to those suggested here, and I do not for a minute doubt them. What I am outlining are physiological trends and how they might relate into coxing from a psychological perspective.

Anyone who is interested in psychology and brain physiology and would like to discuss it with me is more than welcome. I'm also up for debate on any points that you've read in this article, and I hope it has proved both thought provoking, stimulating and useful!

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