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Why do women (generally) have better handwriting than males?

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brentspeak Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-12-05 12:41 PM
Original message
Why do women (generally) have better handwriting than males?
It's not uncommon for me not to understand something that I handwrote a few weeks earlier. But except for some male friends of mine (who are artists), the only good handwriting I see comes from females. Neat, precise handwriting.
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billyskank Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-12-05 12:43 PM
Response to Original message
1. No idea, but my handwriting is excellent
I have observed that lots of women write in a 'bubbly' style: very fat, round letters, and I wonder why that is.
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KitchenWitch Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Nov-13-05 10:27 PM
Response to Reply #1
20. That is cheerleader handwriting
My handwriting is atrocious...and getting worse, the more I use the computer.
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Nikia Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-12-05 12:45 PM
Response to Original message
2. Not sure
I am a woman have legible but not neat handwriting. I even got an unsatisfactory grade in handwriting in second grade. My mother also has poor handwriting.
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Oeditpus Rex Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-12-05 01:02 PM
Response to Original message
3. I used to have bitchin' handwriting
Studied drafting for six years and developed an architectural style. Then I switched majors to journalism, and after years of scribbling notes in interviews it went to hell. :grr:

It's still cool-lookin' if I'm not in a hurry, though.
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Lilith Velkor Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-12-05 01:04 PM
Response to Original message
4. Because they don't get beat up for writing like a sissy n/t
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TimeChaser Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-12-05 02:28 PM
Response to Reply #4
7. ...
*Kidnaps Jin out of your signature...*
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Lilith Velkor Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Nov-13-05 10:26 PM
Response to Reply #7
19. Now he's all blue...
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Ivan Sputnik Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-12-05 01:37 PM
Response to Original message
5. I think (most?) men see handwriting as a tool
--a means to an end. Women may have a more aesthetic attitude toward it, as something that expresses their personality.

That said, my wife's handwriting is AWFUL. I keep telling her she should have been a doctor. Only she can read it, and she can't always do so. My handwriting is quite legible.
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Callalily Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-12-05 01:46 PM
Response to Original message
6. This must be a
generalization, because my handwriting is terrible. Sometimes I can't even read what I've written. Maybe it's because we use keyboards all the time now. The practice of handwriting is a lost art.
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TimeChaser Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-12-05 02:29 PM
Response to Original message
8. You have not seen my handwriting
I myself can barely read it. That is why I have switched to note-taking on my laptop.
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Floogeldy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-12-05 02:33 PM
Response to Original message
9. Strong finger muscles . . .
From all of that dishwashing, house cleaning, floor scrubbing, etc. . . . .

;)
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El Fuego Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-12-05 02:34 PM
Response to Original message
10. I'm a girl with awful handwriting.
My father, on the other hand, had handwriting so neat and beautiful it looked like it was typed.
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LostinVA Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-12-05 05:21 PM
Response to Reply #10
17. Me too...
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aePrime Donating Member (676 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-12-05 02:40 PM
Response to Original message
11. Women generally have better fine motor control. (n/t)
Edited on Sat Nov-12-05 02:45 PM by aePrime
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mvd Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-12-05 02:52 PM
Response to Original message
12. I have good handwriting (am a male)
But here's an idea: I know that in school, males generally lag behind for a while in verbal skills - therefore at the critical point when they learn writing, they miss out.
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ZombieNixon Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-12-05 02:53 PM
Response to Original message
13. While I think this is true, my parents are the exception to the rule.
My mother inherited her handwriter from her father, and it looks terrible. In most cases, the only letters you can be sure of are the capitals at the beginning of proper nouns or sentences.

I wouldn't say my father's handwriting is "neat" per se, but it's definitely more legible and aesthetically pleasing than mom's.

My attitude is "handwriting? What's that?" The only significant amount of writing I do is math! Everything else is usually typed or text messaged or something!
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Pharlo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-12-05 05:04 PM
Response to Original message
14. I don't know about others,
but I forced myself to acquire legible penmanship when I had to go back and read my notes and couldn't comprehend what I'd written....

If I can't understand what I wrote when I need it, writing it down originally was a waste of my time....So, it became legible....


I would assume writing is like reading - kids who read more have a tendency to be better writers. And, the fact is that girls have a tendency to write notes to each other more often than boys - at least from what I have observed.
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Nikia Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-12-05 05:08 PM
Response to Reply #14
15. I don't know if handwriting has to do with that or not
Part of the reason that I don't handwrite well is that I concentrate on the content of what I am writing rather than forming the letters. Really, I don't think about forming letters at all unless it is for something that legibility is vital.
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Pharlo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-12-05 05:31 PM
Response to Reply #15
18. Hmmm....
Neither do I. As you stated, when I write, I'm concentrating on content, not how I'm forming the letters. However, when I'm finished, I glance back to make certain everything is legible - if it isn't I correct it or make notations. In essence, that's how I read too, I don't think about the letters, I concentrate on comprehending what is being said. Unless I don't understand something, I don't need to breakdown a sentence for comprehension.

But, that's just me - it may be different for everyone.
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Devra Donating Member (905 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Nov-14-05 11:38 AM
Response to Reply #14
25. I've done that before
It was around the same time my teachers told me to stop writing in curseive.

I had an English teacher that would have everyone handwrite their essays then she'ld turn to me and say "could you please type it I want to know what it says"
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Arugula Latte Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Nov-14-05 12:13 PM
Response to Reply #25
30. Oh, snap!
:rofl:
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Pithlet Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Nov-14-05 12:15 PM
Response to Reply #14
31. I don't know.
I've always been an avid reader, and was always in the top reading group in elementary school, but my handwriting is atrocious, and always has been. It gets worse the older I get, and I think that's because I type and print whenever possible rather then handwriting anything. My handwriting looks a lot like my dad's. I'm definitely the exception to the rule, if it's accurate, that women have better handwriting.
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Scooter24 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-12-05 05:19 PM
Response to Original message
16. My style of writing is similar to my fathers...
we both write in all caps. We even share similar signature styles.

My mother however has the most beautiful cursive writing I've seen.
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RedCloud Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Nov-14-05 10:35 AM
Response to Original message
21. That will depend...
I guess the shape of the pencil is more in line with the average female hand size. We need to experiment on a Big Bubba size writing utensil...
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Blue-Jay Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Nov-14-05 10:39 AM
Response to Original message
22. My handwriting is neater than my SO's.
But, yeah, women usually have better penmanship. Don't know why that is.
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seemunkee Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Nov-14-05 10:48 AM
Response to Original message
23. Broken arm in second grade ruined me for life
My cursive was so bad I stopped attempting it decades ago and now have forgotten how. My printing is horrible also. At least I can type well.
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Devra Donating Member (905 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Nov-14-05 11:31 AM
Response to Original message
24. well mine is isn't neat
Edited on Mon Nov-14-05 11:34 AM by Devra
Although I have a fine motor disability so that's probably why. To be fair if I try to write neatly if I slow down but It takes me five minuets to write my name neat like that so I only use it for forms and things that require neatness. My handwriting is legible it just isn't pretty looking.
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In_The_Wind Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Nov-14-05 11:41 AM
Response to Original message
26. It is because they want to be certain that they are being understood.
clearly ...
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Taxloss Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Nov-14-05 11:53 AM
Response to Original message
27. Mrs T often says she envies my handwriting.
Not that there's anything very special about it or bad about hers. Mine just has a pleasingly spiky look (apparently).
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Strong Atheist Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Nov-14-05 12:00 PM
Response to Original message
28. Women are superior to men
in a number of ways. This is one of them.
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dr.strangelove Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Nov-14-05 12:08 PM
Response to Original message
29. I don;t know anyone with a scratch as bad as mine
I'm not sure if it is a male thing (I am a guy), but my penmanship is the worst. My AA can barely read it and always asks me what I am trying to say. I try to write very neat for her, but it does ot good. I know a few females with bad writing skills as well, but for the most part I agree that the females I work with are generally better in the "neater writing" category than the males I work with. That may not be true on the worldwide level, btu at least in my circle of colleagues, I think you are correct. Why is it true, I have no idea. Maybe part of the "sex roles" we teach kid, that women must be neat and tidy.
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ProfessorGAC Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Nov-14-05 12:19 PM
Response to Original message
32. My Wife's Looks Like The Palmer Charts!
Her handwriting looks like the cursive charts we used to have up above the black boards in early grade school! Me, mine is grossly overaffected (big surprise, huh?), my signature is unreadable, and i can't write on a straight line without actual ruled paper.

My wife could write perfectly legibly if she was upside down on a roller coaster.

I can't explain it either.
The Professor
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