There seems to be a universal belief that women are more peaceful than men. I am regularly told that we would have no wars or fewer wars if there were more women in elected offices.
Fortunately I learned how false this narrative is in my early 20s. Fifty years free of this ignorant proposition.
I was on the committee to integrate the San Francisco public schools by busing in the early 1960’s. I now regret that role and wish that we had only encouraged the most competent black students to go to white schools. Busing ended up driving whites with kids to the suburbs.
I had the unfortunate job of going to PTA meetings and helping explain the new busing plans for San Francisco. The largest meeting I went to was at Hoover junior high school in the auditorium. I would estimate 1200 parents, predominantly women.
After we explained the busing system which would have taken their children to many black parts of the city and brought many black students to Hoover and its feeder schools, we opened the microphone to people in the audience.
Women were disproportionately the speakers from the audience.
I had never, before nor since, in my life, been exposed to such a group expression of venom and hatred. The room was at jet engine decibel levels with everyone, especially women, screaming at the tops of their lungs. We had no choice but to run out the back exit. The level of anger and hatred was life-threatening.
Since that night, I have never accepted the thesis that women are somehow more peaceful than men.