Yeah, I wouldn't assume every woman would or every man wouldn't - but just, by definition, a man would be unable to understand/relate to that experience firsthand.

I agree that a lot is up to the individual, but who we are as individuals is influenced by life experiences which, for most people, will be different in some ways due to society's understanding of gender (vs. sex) and expectations that go along with that - in some places, for some people.

I guess I wonder if your therapist meant men CAN do different things - or whether he was saying that the CONTEXT of society makes it easier/harder for men to do some things or women to do some things? I guess only he knows!

And, fwiw, I also interpreted it as stopdog - that it's about touch, that female Ts may feel more comfortable touching clients or reassuring them (particularly female clients) because there MAY be a conventional notion that when men touch women it's harassment/misunderstood and male Ts want to avoid that misunderstanding (this is a charged, sweeping statement - sorry)

I also think it may be easier for female Ts to "take on" maternal transference and work with it. So, if people have raging issues with "mother" in their past, working with a female T might actually help them work through it (or not...)