Gender Differences: A Social Construct that Should End

Summary

The webpage discusses the social construction of gender differences and their detrimental effects on society.

Abstract

The article titled "Gender Differences: A Social Construct that Should End" argues that gender stereotypes are not only unfounded in scientific evidence but also perpetuate harmful biases. These stereotypes, such as the belief that women are inherently bad at math or more emotional than men, are deeply ingrained in society and are reinforced by cognitive biases and flawed scientific inquiry. The author refutes these stereotypes by pointing out the success of women in historically male-dominated fields, like mathematics, and highlights the emotionality present in all humans, regardless of gender. The piece emphasizes that the observed differences in behavior, such as women being more empathetic, are due to socialization rather than innate biological differences. The author calls for a reevaluation of gender norms, advocating for changes in how children are raised and educated to dismantle the artificial barriers created by gender stereotypes.

Opinions

The persistence of gender stereotypes is partly due to cognitive biases, ineptitude in scientific inquiry, and the desire to see what aligns with preconceived notions.
Stereotypes like women's supposed deficiency in math are not only untrue but also harmful, as evidenced by the achievements of women like Katherine Johnson.
The notion that men are more rational and less emotional is false; emotionality is a human trait, and socialization dictates how emotions are expressed and managed.
The belief that women are more empathetic than men is challenged, suggesting that empathetic responses are universal, with differences in behavior attributed to socialization.
The phrase "boys will be boys" exemplifies the confusion between biological sex and socialized gender norms, influencing how children are treated and what they are encouraged to play with or learn.
Gender norms are a social construction rather than a biological reality, and continuing to treat them as such hinders human potential and success.
The author advocates for a conscious effort to reassess and change our perceptions and actions regarding gender to foster a society where gender differences do not limit individual potential.

Gender Differences: A Social Construct that Should End

Gender stereotypes persist despite scientific evidence to the contrary.

Gender stereotypes persist despite scientific evidence to the contrary. Partly, our cognitive biases mask the truth beneath what we can see. Partly, our ineptitude in scientific inquiry, or the scientific method in general, disadvantages our ability to understand these biases. Partly, we see what we want to see. Unfortunately, these stereotypes not only affect the individuals in question but on a broader scale are a detriment to human civilization.

I shall not attempt to list the numerous extant stereotypes, since doing so would require a tome that challenges my mental capacity to conceive. Instead, I will begin with some common ones to facilitate our conversation today.

Women are Bad at Maths

Sadly, the idea that women are deficient in maths continues today. And many women believe this themselves as well. Studies have shown that when women are primed about their gender, they tend to do poorer in maths problems, for example. It appears that when reminded of their gender, the women in question start undermining their math ability. Try telling Katherine Johnson (and others like her) that women are not good at maths. Her mathematics genius helped NASA launch its successful crewed space flights. Watch the film Hidden Figures and be awed by Katherine’s (and other women’s as well) maths prowess!

Women are Emotional and Men are Rational

Really? Men are rational and less emotional? Been to a football match and witnessed football fans? Been to a hockey game and seen the brutality? How about road rage? Humans are emotional animals. Full stop. We can pretend to be rational, but when push comes to shove, we are largely morons. Perhaps socialization (and I’ll come to that) trains women and men to manage their emotions differently, to manifest their emotions differently under varied circumstances. But at heart, one gender is no less emotional than the other. Similar to this, System 1 thinking, which predominates the way humans endeavour decision-making, is intuition and emotional, while System 2 thinking, the rational and deliberate stuff, is much less pervasive. Regardless of gender. Surely, when I told a certain Senior Vice President to “get the fuck out of my office” and then charged up to his boss’s office to tell him off, no rational part of me was at play.

Women are more Empathetic

I don’t know how well Margaret Thatcher fits this notion. Physiologically women and men react the same way in situations that induce empathy. It’s simply that we have been socialized into acting on them differently. Primarily women are more likely to act on this empathy than men because they have been socialized into doing so. The mere fact that we may see more women exhibiting empathetic behaviour than men does not mean that one gender is more empathetic than the other. The behaviour itself is mediated by forces of socialization.

The Role of Socialization

“Boys will be boys,” as the saying goes. But the term “boy” in the statement refers to two different things. The former is the biological sex of a boy. The latter is the socialized gender norm of what it means to be a boy.

Even when parents (and/or grandparents) proclaim that they don’t treat the baby boy or girl differently, they do. Girls get the pink stuff. The boys get the blue stuff. Girls are given dolls. Boys are given footballs. We tell the daughter to behave like a lady (or whatever prim and proper mode of behaviour we wish to invoke). We tell the son to go and play. Recently an article in The Wall Street Journal announces that boys learn by bumping into things, while girls learn by sitting there thinking and talking. What bull crap. The kids learn in different ways not because they are biologically boys and girls, but because they have been told to play and learn and act in particular ways.

Going Forward

The world continues to be a gendered place because we make it so. The world continues to be a gendered place because the way we rear our kids (or teach the students) is gendered. The world continues to be a gendered place because we don’t recognize, or don’t want to recognize, that gender norms are not a biological reality but a social construction.

We can make a start by reassessing the way we perceive and act. Why, for instance, do we believe that one is destined to behave in a certain way just because of one’s gender? Is it a necessary truth, or is it something that’s been drilled into our heads since Day One?

We can do more. We can reexamine how we rear and teach our kids. Consider how our actions might engender particular mindsets. What we say to the kids, or perhaps even more importantly, what we don’t say to them, affects what they develop into. The same goes for how we treat them. How we act towards them. And how we act towards others. Does our behaviour foster and reinforce gender differences?

Gender differences are artificial barriers to human success. It’s a social construction that has hampered untold millions as they grow and develop. It’s time we did our best to dismantle this repugnant artefact.