Biosocial Debates

1. 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.

2. 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.)

3. 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

4. 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)

5. Genetic Difference • 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

6. 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.

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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?

10. 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)

11. 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? Causal-consequence/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?

12. 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

13. 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 historical/cultural beliefs and practices?

14. 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.