Survey: Who's better? Men or Women?

Written on September 27, 2026

Share this article with curious people.

Results

People today did not know how to do tallies. So my counting them may not be 100% accurate. Especially for Same, I just gave up near the bottom.

Most of the time, I didn’t ask why. If anyone put Same, then I didn’t ask why. If someone looked in a rush, I didn’t ask why.

About half a dozen times, give or take, I got no response when asking “can I ask why?” They just thanked me and left. Partly I was too soft spoken today, feeling absolutely exhauted. And partly I think I worded it wrong. Later, I started asking “why do you think that?” and it got a lot more responses.

My memory is failing me a lot more often lately, so I took a lot of notes, but it was difficult, because I was getting so many answers in a row.

Discussions

Several women who put Women said it’s because women can reproduce. Most of them were young women.

Several women and a few effeminate men put Women and said it’s because historically men have committed more atrocities.

One woman who put Women refused to tell me why.

Several women who put Women said it’s because of past negative experiences, and none of them elaborated, obviously.

One man early on predicted that most men will say Same and most women will say Women.

One young woman who put Women said women have always been considered the weak gender but they’re still here and still fighting.

The first person to put Men said he did it just to represent.

The second person to put Men was an elderly woman!

A man and woman on a date both put Men, and the woman said they’re equal but different. I think she was implying that men are more generally capable.

A foreign woman said Women, because they take more into account, they see the bigger picture.

One young man put Woman and said it’s because he’s a momma’s boy.

Another young man put Women and said it’s because his favorite people are women, and he just feels more comfortable being his self around women.

Two fat women put Women, one said that women wouldn’t hurt someone randomly on a train. They came out of the book store and the other woman gave her answer, saying women are progressing more than men, both socially and emotionally.

One young Latina woman put Woman and said it’s because she “recently broke up out of a relationship.” I thought it was an odd way to phrase it.

One young man joked that he should write Men to even it out, but said he’d stay objective and wrote Same.

One middle aged woman who put Women said women have “a certain intelligence about them,” and made a distinction between individuals and groups, seemingly implying that if you compare them at the same level, individual men are often better at something than individual women.

One man who temporarily set up a shop near me selling edibles, came over and put Women, saying they’re better and ought to be. He used the phrase “in this reality.” Later, his friend met up with him and they came over to me and they asked me if I was homeless. I said I’m writing a book. Then one of them gave a more in depth answer about how this question is too complex to be answered this way, because it’s not clear in what way they’re being compared. I think he ultimately put Same.

A young woman who put Women said she feels more comfortable around women, and would rather hang out with women.

One young woman said both matter. I think she put Women though.

One woman who put Woman said women just resonate better with her.

Two fat women put Women, with one adding that “we’re just better, men suck.”

One very high black man put Men and said men can always do what women can’t.

One yound woman put Woman saying women are more empathetic.

One young man asked “based on what?” After talking about the question, and how I intentionally left it vague, I don’t think he marked an answer. I respect his answer the most.

An older white couple both put Men, and the woman said “I can’t do shit, I call him for everything.”

One effeminate young man put Women, saying they’re more kind, compasisionate, sensitive, sensible, “directive,” and other feminine traits.

A rich white middle aged lady who passed me told me “go find a job” as she walked by, which is quite odd because I wasn’t asking for money, and I was quite well dressed today for Mass. She didn’t leave any time to converse about it. I feel sorry for whoever has to put up with her.

A young fat woman in a group put three tallies for Women, and when I said “can I ask why?” she said “no.”

Two people, a woman and a man dressed as a woman, both put Women. The woman said it’s because she’s a lesbian. The man said women are kinder and more compassionate, etc.

Someone said Women adding the world would be more peaceful.

One young Mexican man put Men saying they’re the only ones with survival instincts.

One young woman put Woman saying women created some of the most useful inventions.

Another woman said she’s a lesbian and put Women.

An older women, who was singing Creep, put Women, saying women have “cool powers,” clarifying that giving birth was one of them.

One very high black man missing teeth put 3 marks for Same and said he was in jail for 5 years, and that he thinks women are so beautiful, and he loves being out here seeing all the beautiful women, and he tells them they’re beautiful whether they talk to him or not.

One young black man put Men saying women don’t know what men have to go through.

One woman put 3 marks for Men, laughed loudly, and left. She seemed like an ordinary middle aged woman who would day drink on the way to a Cubs game with a husband.

One young man who was with a young woman put Women, saying it’s because of all the stuff they had to go through. As they walked away, I heard her teasing him saying “that’s big of you, man.”

One young man put Same, and laughed at the votes for Men.

One young man put Women, saying it’s because “women.” Apparently it’s self-evident.

One young woman wearing a NIN shirt put Women saying they’re cooler than men, and “men have no swag.” I felt personally attacked.

One very, very old lady, probably about 80 years old, walking around with a walker, very very slowly, eventually read my survey, and said Women are better. She had several buttons pinned to her jacket, one of which was a pro-abortion button.

A group of two teen couples answered, the girls saying Same and the boys saying Men, and they were very playfully arguing about it, the boys saying “who’s gonna carry the law!” and the girls replying “who made you” and the boys retorting “where’d they get the semen from?”

One young woman, dressed very alternatively, put Women, saying that historically men have started more wars and colonialism, although she couldn’t remeber the word for a while, until her friend helped her.

One young woman, I think an art student, put Women, saying that woman didn’t create nuclear bombs, but that it’s more nurture than nature, and that it can be trained out of men.

One black man, who was very passionate, put Men, saying Eve was tempted and then she tempted Adam, and that women manipulate men in the same way still. He added that because Eve was made from Adam’s rib, a woman’s place is by a man’s side, not in front or behind.

One young woman put Women, saying women have been “downgraded” by men, but that women can do whatever men can do.

A young effiminate man put Women, because women are beautiful, and men in power have messed things up.

An old man said “none of the above.” When I asked if he meant Same, he said no, they’re just different.

At one point I saw a very old priest that I recognized from St. Peter’s –I think he’s retired now– walking about in normal clothes. I called out to him by name, and he probably didn’t hear me. And he definitely didn’t look at my sign, or at me, or towards me. At all. And he looked quite financially sound, not at all like a Franciscan, but at least middle class.

Song of the Day

Creep by Radiohead is hardly obscure, but some people I knew didn’t know of it, and I think it’s the perfect song for this question.

One young woman mentioned the song, noting how in it, he chooses to be a loser. I said it’s basically a man worshipping women, and I brought up the Galadriel quote, “all shall love me and despair.”

There’s a really good alternative version of this song by a woman who sings it in a jazzy style, but it destroys the song entirely, because it’s a despairing, sad song, and she makes it an upbeat, happy one. It also goes from the sad loser singing it, to the kind of woman he worships singing it, adding a sad layer of unfortunate irony.

The best live rendition of this song was from the very first episode of Late Night with Conan O’Brien. You can literally see his pain.