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RE: Sex Differences: Do females and males have different brains?
My wife and I have had a couple of debates about whether there are differences in the brains of men and women. I thought there was, but didn't know what the scientific evidence was until I read this. She is usually very logical, but I think this is a topic where people sometimes don't want to acknowledge there are some clear differences between men and woman. The existence of these types of differences could be an argument for continuing some forms of inequality, such as the greater number of men in executive positions. I think it's better to deal with the facts as they are however.
Even if there are average differences between men and women (and there are), that doesn't say anything about a particular man and a particular woman. It just gives you a probability percentage. So, for example, if men are better than women at math, you still have no idea whether you in particular are better than your wife at math. Neither does an academic institution that is trying to decide whether to admit you or your wife for a position. So inequality doesn't necessarily spring into being as a result of our admitting there are differences.
It might even be the opposite. If we know women score less at tests during their periods because of how hormones affect their brains, we might opt to make it allowable for women to opt out of tests on such days. More on this specific topic (tho it will be covered only briefly) in the next post.
I'm a feminist (tho I disagree with many feminists on a lot of topics, as they all do among themselves), so I know where your wife is coming from. And making these series of posts is actually my attempt to discover for myself the extent of sex differences that exist, based on science.
Thanks for reading, and I hope the rest of the series will be of equal interest to you!
My wife is a lot better at maths than I am:). She was top of her high school at maths, and often had to listen to the teachers scolding the boys for letting a girl beat them. So she developed a particular dislike for the idea that boys are naturally better at those kind of things. I know that's not what you were arguing in your article, but those are her associations on this topic anyway. I also would like to know just what sex differences really exist, looking forward to the next article