Synopsis: In Architecture & Design Of Man And Woman, watch as each sex is pushed to physical extremes to demonstrate the impact on performance. These Anatomy Of A Man and Woman videos are a fascinating comparison between sexes and who nature intended to be physically superior.

Learn how physical differences between men and women not only impact performance on the playing field, but also provide distinct advantages in the game of life. Is one sex “designed” to be superior to the other? For the answer, one needs only to examine the architecture of the sexes.

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Architecture and Design of Man and Woman 7.75

eyelights: its focus on women. its detailed exploration of key aspects of the human body.
eyesores: its lack of focus on sex.

Does “Architecture and Design of Man and Woman” sounds sexy to you? It doesn’t to me. It never did. The only reason I even watched it is because it’s part of the Discovery Channel DVD called ‘Nature of Sex’, which collects that programme along with ‘The Surprising History of Sex and Love‘, ‘Science of the Sexes‘ and ‘Anatomy of Sex‘.

Maybe if the set had been called “Nature of the Sexes” this one might have fit in with the others.

Instead, what this 2005 program focuses on is how men and women’s bodies function under extreme pressure, using examples like rock climbing, professional basketball, marathon swimming and endurance running. Yes, it shows how the human body is conceived and birthed (all with now-dated CGI imagery), but that’s about the closest connection.

Having said this, disappointing though it may be, it’s probably the most consistent of the four programmes: It really does get down to the science, eschewing the biased suppositions and commentaries of the earlier pieces. Here it’s all fact: this is what the body does, why it does it, and what the difference between men an women are.

Basic. Factual.

What I did find quite interesting about this 44-minute documentary is that its focus was on women. Most of these shows revolve around men, but, aside for the partner of the female rock climber, the next three examples are women – even as the show explains the advantages and disadvantages of both sexes. I relished this perspective, which is extremely rare.

For instance, they explained how muscle mass isn’t useful for all exercises and activities, how the rock climber was able to do things some muscle-bound freaks couldn’t, how women have weaker knees because of the width of their hips (thereby limiting them at basketball), how they can float and keep warmer than men, or endure -not deaden- pain better.

‘Architecture and Design of Man and Woman’ spent an adequate amount of time on each, explained the body’s challenges and responsiveness rather well for such a short show. So, ultimately, it may be my favourite of the bunch. Granted, it’s less interesting to me than the others, but anyone who finds the subject fascinating would enjoy watching this.

Story: n/a
Acting: n/a
Production: 7.5

Nudity: 1.0
Sexiness: 0
Explicitness: 0

Date of viewing: March 19, 2016