What if women and men responded differently to heat?

Women sweat less than men. So one might think that they are less effective at dissipating heat and that their body temperature rises more. That makes sense. And yet… that’s not what the science shows. In a recent study conducted at 40 °C, women sweated significantly less than men. But their body temperature did not rise any more than men’s. This is where physiology gets interesting. Because our ability to tolerate heat doesn’t depend on a single mechanism. Biological sex plays a role, of course. But body type, heat production, fitness level, and—above all—acclimatization profoundly alter our response. Even the role of the menstrual cycle—often highlighted—deserves a much more nuanced understanding than is commonly believed. So rather than trying to determine whether men or women “tolerate” heat better, perhaps the right question lies elsewhere: Why might two people exposed to exactly the same heat react in completely different ways? “That’s the whole point of individualization. When faced with heat, we aren’t first and foremost men or women. We are different physiological entities.”