Human Sex Differences Biology and Behavior

Gender and Sexuality ANTH 2301 Human Sex Differences: Biology and Behavior Similar to research on primates, gender bias among (mostly male) researchers has led to a significant tilt in studies on human biological sex and gender differences. Scholars in the Euro-American intellectual tradition have previously contended that women are not qualified to vote, attend college, compete in the labour market, or hold political office due to their biological makeup. The notion that men and women have distinct cognitive capacities has gained traction in more recent times. It's said that women excel in verbal skills, while men excel in arithmetic and spatial relationships. Males are said to be more aggressive and females more emotional due to hormonal activity. Biologist Anne Fausto-Sterling (1992) reviewed a vast body of literature on the cognitive and behavioural aspects of sex/gender differences in humans in her book Myths of Gender. After carefully examining the data, she concludes that there is absolutely no statistically significant difference in the cognitive capacities of males and girls in the great majority of research. Only a limited number of research reported any changes at all. For example, out of four studies on the ability to think abstractly, two revealed no difference at all, one suggested that men were superior, and one suggested that women were superior. Overall, girls tend to perform better than boys when it comes to linguistic ability, but the difference is so negligible that it has little bearing on issues with schooling and work. Similarly, no difference in spatial ability between males and girls is found in over half of all investigations. Boys outperform girls when differences are discovered, although the difference is once more rather little. Merely five percent of the total difference in skill levels in this domain can be ascribed to gender. This indicates that other factors, including educational chances, account for 95% of the variances. There is no guarantee that biological sex differences are the cause of even these minute variations in cognitive abilities across the sexes. According to a number of studies on spatial abilities, males may initially score higher on tests of spatial ability, but when girls have more time to practise, they catch up and become just as skilled as boys. According to some experts, recreational activities like athletics, which are frequently promoted more by parents of males, may help kids develop their spatial abilities. More than biology, cultural factors such as gender roles, parenting practices, and play patterns may influence the findings. Studies spanning cultures also suggest that culture has a significant influence on how people develop their skills. among one research, boys outperformed girls among the Temne of Sierra Leone, whereas no differences were identified at all in the spatial ability of boys and girls among the Inuit. While Temne females have stricter activity restrictions, Inuit girls are often granted greater freedom and autonomy. Similar intricacies surface when analysing research on aggressiveness. According to Fausto-Sterling, the majority of research did not find a conclusive link between male violence and testosterone levels. Furthermore, research on testosterone and aggressiveness have been beset with issues, including subpar methodology, dubious definitions of violence, and an inability to establish a causal relationship between testosterone and aggression. Researchers who have studied aggressiveness disparities between males and girls have come to the conclusion that cultural influences may be major contributors to these variations. The anthropologist Carol Ember investigated the levels of aggressiveness in a Kenyan tribe between males and girls. There were several exceptions to the guys' generally more aggressive behaviour. Boys were forced to do more "feminine" tasks including childcare, housekeeping, and fetching water in households without female offspring. Boys who completed those activities on a regular basis showed less hostility than other boys; for boys who completed a lot of this work, the difference was as much as 60%. Research on the minds, bodies, and behaviours of male and female humans does not appear to show that large behavioural differences are biologically hardwired, similar to the findings on sex differences in primates. Male and female cognitive abilities and social behaviours have been found to differ, however these variations are extremely tiny and may be the result of social and cultural influences rather than biological differences. Similar to chimpanzees and bonobos, humans have a wide range of gender and sexual expression due to our highly adaptable biology.