Quantitative Theories of Gender Differences
This chapter is not a critique of evolutionary biology nor is it a denial of the existence of gender differences in human society-some of which are biologically based, and some of which are culturally based. I am not advocating that men and women are identical and that we should all dress and act alike. It is obvious that men and women differ in kinds of sex chromosomes, in gene expression, in anatomical features, in hormonal physiology, in neurological development, and in a host of behavioral characters. However, in spite of all these biological differences, males and females share a great deal of similarities in characters that allegedly define our differences. In fact, even in characters such as height, strength, aggressiveness, and nurturance, there is tremendous variation within groups of men and women. Given the amount of similarity that can be found, it is not obvious that the differences justify any gender-based policy of discrimination. First, we do not know the extent to which observed differences in many characters are actually biologically based. Second, the existence of any kind of biological basis does not indicate that gender stratification is predetermined.
Sayfa 89 - Quantitative Genetics, Feminism, and Evolutionary Theories of Gender Differences - Victoria L. Sork
Sözü Habermas gibi kişilere bırakmak içime sinmiyor
Habermas (1971) has argued that insofar as science is engaged in its own project (i.e., Kuhn's normal science), it cannot examine the social preconditions of its own existence. Rarely does it become possible for the scientist to step back, examine the social preconditions that have led to the construction of the mask of theory, and ask: Why have I interpreted the natural world the way I have? What elements of my culture made one interpretation obvious and believable, but not another? Habermas notes that asking these questions is a function of critical reflection, a type of thinking related to, but different from, science as such.
As cultures change it becomes possible for scientists to ask these questions, to be self-critical about our presuppositions. Recently, Western culture has shifted in striking ways. We live in times characterized by critical self-examination. Our cultural matrix has us ask "What does this say about us; what would future generations think of this?" with the same rapidity as the Greek shepherd might have asked, "What is this an omen of; what do the gods mean by this?" Living in a time of critical self-examination offers working scientists a window of opportunity, a chance to see how some previously invisible biases have affected the construction of one mask of theory and weakened our view of the face of nature. Competetive individualism is one such bias. Gender bias is another.
Hayda...
Williams goes on to suggest some of the other fallout from the evolution of anisogamy: Women are evolutionarily more stable; men are more likely to evolve homosexuality (which he calls "a gross abnormality"); "nonfunctional juvenile sex behavior, and substandard parental behavior ... "
Williams, G. C. 1975. Sex and Evolution. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Two hundred Indian women killed their rapist on the courtroom floor of Nagpur in 2004. When Police tried to arrest lead perpetrators // the women responded “arrest us all.”
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I no longer want to see who refuses to see me.
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