Who rules the world? Men, women, or neither? According to latest scientific research, when men believe a woman is observing them, their psychological performance deteriorates. So who is superior? You see, surprisingly, the reverse isn't true. Evidently, female cognitive functions don't decline when a man's around.
Long ago Lord Kapiladeva gave his verdict: "Just try to understand the mighty strength of My maya in the shape of woman, who by the mere movement of her eyebrows can keep even the greatest conquerors of the world under her grip." (Bhagavatam 3.31.18)
As presented in Scientific American, researchers are exploring the "cognitive impairment" that men experience, both before and after interacting with women. First, a 2009 study demonstrated that even after brief dealings with an attractive woman, men experienced a decline in mental performance.
More recent study reveals that this cognitive impairment grips men when they merely anticipate interacting with a woman – even one they don't know. Moreover, not just face to face, but just phone or online encounters are enough to hamper male performance.
No doubt, women will chuckle: "We always knew men are hung up." As for female performance? When tested exactly the same way, whether the women were expecting a man or woman to observe them, their cognitive results did not differ.
So, are women actually more dhira, sober, and equipoised? Psychologists, interpreting the test results, say that social expectations are to blame. Society, these academics hypothesize, is molded to load more pressure on men pushing them to execute social interactions that impress women. Poor fellows! These intergender dealings, scientists say, tax a man's cognitive processes, because so much mental energy is spent on imagining how ladies will interpret his every words and action.
I like Srila Prabhupada's explanation of this universal phenomenon: "One has to study the captivating potency 0f women and man’s attraction for that potency. From what source was this generated? According to vedanta-sutra. we can understand that everything is generated from the Supreme Personality of Godhead . .. The captivating power of woman, and man's susceptibility to such attraction, must also exist in the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the spiritual world and must be represented in the transcendental pastimes of the Lord.
"The Lord is the Supreme Person, the supreme male. As a common male wants to be attracted by a female, that propensity similarly exists in the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He also wants to be attracted by the beautiful features of a woman. Now the question is, if he wants to be captivated by such womanly attraction, would He be attracted by any material woman? It is not possible . . . When He wants to be attracted by a woman, He has to create such a woman from His own energy. That woman is Radharani. It is explained by the Goswamis that Radharani is the manifestation of the pleasure potency of the Supreme Personality of Godhead."