Thread: Feminism

Originally Posted by gwahir

Physically, the only surefire difference is that men have penises and women have vaginas.

Well actually there have been studies that have shown or suggested different neurological differences between men and women. For example males tend to outperform women in spatial ability tests (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2651884/) while the section of the brain that is responsible for language is larger in women (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9041858) which could suggest that generally women are superior to men in language-based subjects.

However these finding shouldn't be used to exclude one gender or the other from performing certain tasks. There will always be some women who are better than some men at spatial reasoning just as there will always be some men who are better than some women at language-based subjects. People should be judged individually of their skills and assets but it's still important to realize (and celebrate) that women and men aren't exactly like each other neurologically.

This is addressed to Atomic:

Originally Posted by sycld

Whenever a person develops a talent in one area or another, they affect their brain structure. It may, in fact, be the case that the difference in average brain development are caused by greater participation in gender-stereotyped activities by men and women, as opposed to reflecting some intrinsic, built-in difference between the two genders.

For instance, a study of London cab drivers found that they had larger areas of the brain associated with spatial reasoning abilities compared to a control group. Furthermore, there was a correlation between years spent being a cab driver and the size of this area of the brain. This strongly suggested that using these spatial reasoning skills actually encouraged restructuring of the brain.

Other studies have found similar results that suggest using certain skills repeatedly actually changes the structure of the brain, even in adults.

The relevance of this information, in terms of feminism, is this: differences you have perceived between men and women, no matter how intrinsic or in-built you think they are, are heavily influenced by society. Many women act "like women", and therefore have those women-specific traits/personalities/qualities you speak of, only because they are expected to.

One of my most deeply held philosophies is that people must be free, in a just society, to choose their own path. That means being free from coercion as well as having the same possibilities and options open to you as others. We are a long way from this -- and not just in feminist terms but also in racial equality, and other disadvantaged minorities. Women are not free to choose their own paths yet, not completely. Feminism is about moving towards that.