by Molly Edmonds
We like to think that men and women are fundamentally the same, excepting their reproductive organs. We all want the same rights and opportunities, and for some things, such as women's suffrage, it was a long, hard fight to achieve equal footing. As a result, we're often appalled at stereotypical suggestions that the sexes might be different. Witness the reaction to the Barbie doll who said "Math class is tough!" in 1992. In 2005, there was controversy surrounding Harvard president Lawrence Summers when he suggested there were innate reasons for why women did not perform as well as men on tests of math and science. Men, on the other hand, have staged massive protests over any silver screen depiction that paints them as merely beer-swilling, football-watching couch potatoes with the vocabulary of cavemen.
OK, so we invented that last example, but just because we can't track down a concrete example of such a protest doesn't mean that men aren't the tiniest bit irked. Still, we do seem to realize that as much as we'd like everything to be equal between men and women, there are differences in how we go about things. The sales of glossy magazines that promise to teach you how to work with someone of the opposite gender as well as self-help books along the lines of "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus" are proof that we need a little help understanding what's going on inside the heads of men and women.
As it turns out, it may be better to turn to neuroscience rather than to Cosmopolitan magazine to figure out what's going on inside that guy's brain. Research indicates that men and women do in fact have different structures and wiring in the brain, and men and women may also use their brains differently. In some cases, this may explain some of the stereotypes that we may not like to acknowledge about the genders. For example, men do score better at tasks that involve orienting objects in space, while women do better at language tests [source: Kolata]. From there, it's but a quick jump to the conclusions that men are better at reading maps and women talk too much.
It's these kinds of stereotypes that make some people nervous about the findings on the male and female brain -- what kinds of implications would this have for our world? Would women immediately be banned from math classes and would men be forced to become engineers? Before we start jumping to conclusions, go to the next page and we'll take a look at just what sorts of brain differences we're dealing with.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Post Archive
-
▼
2010
(954)
-
▼
January
(50)
- Beyonce, Jay-Z, Black Eyed Peas Win Early Grammys
- Grammys to pit Beyonce against Swift
- U.S. military: Evacuations of injured Haitians sus...
- Cincinnati Bengals' Chad Ochocinco - a receiver wh...
- Do men and women have different brains?
- U.S. announces $6.4 billion arms deal with Taiwan
- Saints-Colts a Super matchup
- Afghan interpreter shoots dead two US soldiers
- Body of lottery winner found buried in Florida
- Andy Murray - I can beat Roger Federer in final
- Cardinals’ Warner Walks Away After 12 Improbable Y...
- Halle Makes Sure to Take Care of Business
- BCS under scrutiny from Capitol Hill
- The World’s Unhealthiest Burger?
- Toyota recalls 'up to 1.8m' cars
- Mahatma Gandhi ashes to be scattered in South Africa
- Sisters win fourth Aussie doubles title
- States consider youth concussion laws
- Hurt knee or not, Shockey intends to play
- Police think remains buried under concrete are lot...
- EXCLUSIVE: Tiger's Wife: The Divorce Is Off
- After Long Decline, Teenage Pregnancy Rate Rises
- Wilson, White face several charges
- The recovery in the housing market is still alive,...
- Avatar holds steady at US and UK box office
- US deficit 'set to hit $1.35tn'
- Car bomb kills 18, injures dozens in Baghdad
- Edlington torture case sentences to be reviewed
- Sources: Jackson to take Raiders' offer
- Obama proposes economic help for middle class
- Tim Tebow struggles in opening practice
- Hope For Haiti Now By The Numbers: Wide Online Dis...
- Wade misses at buzzer as LeBron's post-fall FTs li...
- Saints beat Vikings 31-28 in OT, headed to Super Bowl
- Colts make up 11-point deficit to push aside Jets ...
- Bin Laden Vows More Attacks on U.S.
- Walmart to Cut 11,200 Sam’s Club Jobs, Cornell Says
- Haiti ends quake rescue operations
- Saudi schoolgirl sentenced to 90 lashes after assa...
- Clash of the Titans Trailer Goes to Hell
- Global Aid Pours Into Haiti in Search for Survivors
- The Book of Eli, review
- Why Are Deeply Colored Vegetables Good for You?
- Alabama No. 1 in final AP poll for 7th time
- Sony working on multi-core CPU for PS4?
- GMAC will pit ACC squad vs. MAC club
- Saints will rest Brees vs. Panthers
- Sweet Finish for Tebow and Gators
- Bowden bows out a winner as Seminoles win Gator Bowl
- Red Bull Cola banned for containing cocaine
-
▼
January
(50)
No comments:
Post a Comment