Biosocial Debates
• Social constructionists believe that all sex
differences are social constructions, are
“gendered” by human beliefs. Social processes are
keys to understanding gender.
• Biosocial perspectives argue that biology sets
limits on what societal influences can achieve.
Sex is real and they seek to understand it through
biology, genetics, and evolution. Human choices
are not infinite because genes set limits on a range
of developmental outcomes.
Anthropologist Defines Nature
• Evolutionary anthropologist Helen Fisher
defines: “human beings have a common
nature, a set of shared unconscious
tendencies or potentialities that are encoded
in our DNA and that evolved because they
were of use to our forebears millions of
years ago. We are not aware of these
predispositions, but they still motivate our
actions.” (Anatomy of Love, p. 13.)
The Nature of Sex
• To understand sex we must examine how males
and females are alike and different biologically.
• Both have 23 pairs of chromosomes, and are
warm-blooded mammals.
• Both differ physically in external/internal sexual
structures, chromosomes (XX, XY), hormones,
secondary sex characteristics
• Molecular biologists, evolutionary theorists have a
sex dream to find out what makes us female/male
by understanding human genome, evolution,
biology
Sexual Dimorphism
• Sex marks a distinction between two
physically and genetically discrete
categories of people.
• Sex differentiation creates two “structurally
distinguishable categories of humans”
• Critics say social creates biological forces
making two sexes (Wharton, p. 18)
• A single gene, called SRY, on the Y chromosome starts a cascade of
events in the developing fetus that leads to the development of the
male. If that gene is absent, a female body results. People are
“naturally” female unless masculinized with female as the “default
sex.”
• SRY switches on another gene called SOX9 which does all the work
switching on and off all sorts of genes in the testis and brain which
switch on and off the production of hormones which alter the body and
affect other genes. SRY is “an archive, recipe, switch, interchangeable
part, or health-giver of maleness.” Genes may “be sensitive to external
experience, reacting to diet, social setting, learning, and culture.”
Hence Ridley: “nature via nurture” (Ridley, p. 239)
• Behavior genetics seek to show that human behavior can be linked to
genes. Genetics differences created through evolution, hence
evolutionary biology and psychology can explain sex differences.
• Epigenetic research on sex differences show that both genes and
environment act to determine structure and function of brains
Genetic Difference
Human Sex Differences
• Sexual instincts are universal and partially inherited, hardwired,
automatic, “given the expected environment.” (Ridley, p. 52). Example
of instinct is love (Ridley, p. 48, Fisher), on maternal attachment (Hrdy)
• Reason for separation into two sexes is that it is one way to ensure
variation that would prevent destructive gene competition within one
organism. Sex between two allows a new genes with each generation
that improves change of survival. (see Red Queen theory Ridley 1993)
• Through sexual selection (Darwin) males compete with other males for
females, and females choose who they want to mate with. These
processes create sex differences and dimorphism. Females need more
parental investment; males want greater sexual access (Emperor
Moulay of Morocco fathered 888 offspring).
• Societal need to impose monogamy due to role of sexual jealousy: case
of mutiny on bounty=15 men, 13 women Pitcairn island became ten
women, I man 18 years later—men killed each other off over women.
Barash—males’ evolutionary
violence
• “Killing establishment” overwhelmingly male
• Men disproportionately perpetrators and victims
• Male-male competition in animals and humans in
efforts to get access to female
• “The greater the difference in reproductive
payoff..the greater the difference in aggressiveness
among males. With reproductive success more
variable, males are more competitive” than
females. (p. 43) Female aggression more subtle,
less direct, defensive and reactive
Brain Research
• Theory: prenatal sex hormones “prime”
(predispose) females and males to act differently
once outside the womb.
• Urdy: Girls’ exposure to prenatal androgens (male
sex hormones) made them less receptive to
traditional gender socialization. Criticized for
reducing gender to sex-dimorphism (sex
differences)
• Simon Baron-Cohen’s “essential difference:”
female brain as “empathizing;” male brain as
“systematizing”—test examples
Psychological Sex Differences
• 1974--The Psychology of Sex Differences sought to
challenge negative cultural stereotypes esp. about females;
research showed fewer and less magnitude of sex
differences to emphasize similarities between sexes rather
than differences.
• Sex difference refers to a statistically significant difference
(difference didn’t happen by chance) in the mean values
(average performances) of women and men on one
measure. (Considerable overlap—height; no overlap of
means—body parts)
• Research examines personality, cognition, verbal/math
skills, behaviors like aggression and nurturing.
• Questions: Are males more aggressive than females? If so,
how? Females more nurturing?
Measuring Sex Differences
• Importance of sex difference size—overlaps (Wharton p. 25), “alpha
bias”—tendency to exaggerate sex difference, “beta bias” minimize.
• Consistency of sex difference refers to their relative stability across
samples (age, race/ethnicity/class), time, social context
• Today use meta-analysis--comparative examination of findings from
multiple studies measure the magnitude of particular effect or the
consistency such as the average difference between individuals in two
categories in a study which is the effect size. Degree of consistency
important because researchers can link trait to sex.
• Meta-analysis of spatial abilities show sex difference favoring males,
size of differences vary across studies, declined recent years
• Eagly disputes early lack of differences showing more sex differences,
but descriptive research produced little integration of findings
(Wharton 27)
Research Questions
• Biological research confirms, reflects, perpetuates cultural stereotypes
about females/males as it measures individuals (Does Baron-Cohen do
this? Handy that research confirms social roles)
• Why research genetics and gender if it is currently impossible to
explain interaction between genes and environment? Causalconsequence/chicken-and-egg problem
• Individualistic analysis—makes individuals rather than institutions
responsible for social concerns related to sex/gender—as “basis for
exclusion and unequal treatment” of women and certain kinds of men;
does not address variation within sex
• Problems of social definition of sex/gender—”A medical model of all
human variation makes a medical model of normality, including social
normality, and dictates a therapeutic or preemptive attack on deviance”
(Lewontin, p. 150)
• Problem of endorsing a gene basis for social construction of
sex/gender—what difference does physical difference make?
The Social
• Bio research pays lip service to sociology--Ignores/downplays social
causes and hides underlying material interests—study of human
genome shifts research monies/agendas to genetic markers rather than
environmental concerns, enriches elites not publics—why money to
Human Genome Project rather than homeless women?
• Historically bio research used to create destructive eugenic policies
that harm disadvantaged—women, poor (beliefs about women’s
reproductive capacities lead to medicalization of childbirth,
sterilization of poor women) Duster calls this “backdoor to eugenics”
• Sociologically research is ahistorical, asocial
• Focus on group difference acts as “self-fulfilling prophecies”
researchers overlook similarities and exaggerate differences.
• What’s the point when sociology can answer causal questions by
showing why material interests frame questions and outcomes
Sociology of the Body
• Sociology seeks to understand the social
construction of the biological—how cultural
stereotypes circumscribe research processes on
sex differences, medical procedures, genetic
research
• How do the material interests of researchers
(making money from pharmaceuticals used from
gene disease discovery; career-enhancements
from gene discoveries) frame research
paradigms?
• How does the media construct our understandings
of biology?
• How does social policy get framed around
References
• John Archer/Barbara Lloyd, Sex and Gender (2002)
• Simon Baron-Cohen, The Essential Difference: The Truth about the
Male and Female Brain (2003)—tests in Appendices 1-3.
• Sarah Blaffer Hrdy, Mother Nature: A History of Mothers, Infants and
Natural Selection (1999)
• Troy Duster, Backdoor to Eugenics (1990)
• Helen Fisher, Anatomy of Love (1992)
• Richard Lewontin, It Ain’t Necessarily So: The Dream of the Human
Genome and Other Illusions (2000)
• Matt Ridley, Nature via Nurture (2003); The Red Queen (1993)
• Wharton, Chapter 2.