The Issue of Gender Differences - Research Paper Example

? Innate Differences between Women and Men The issue of gender differences has been contentious for a long time with feminists trying to prove that there are no differences between men and women. This paper will focus on assessing innate differences between men and women. Introduction In the contemporary world, it is highly believed that men and women are equal in relation to their intellectual capacity. This has highly been contributed by evolving issue of feminism. However, many people and organizations tend to disagree with such views asserting that innate differences may exist. Some of the areas that many people have posited men to be smatter than women include the field of science and mathematics and physical mightiness. However, feminists tend to disagree with such deliberations, citing that men and women are equal by nature, and that the only differences are as a result of how the society deals with women differently from men. The rationale for the differences While researching on the root cause of the differences between men and women, studies have attributed the differences to the fact that men’s brains are built differently from women brains. Men’s left and right brain hemispheres are linked by less neurons than are women’s. In addition, women brains are networked while me’s brains are compartmentalized (Greene, 2008). Studies have shown that men are aggressive, women are passive, in regard to personality, even if they are both intelligent. However, in many societies, men dominate especially in many areas of leadership positions. Studies have also documented that, for example, at an average age of six years, boys have about 7 percent more vital energy than girls of the same age. In fact, as they grow, at an age of 13 or 14, boys have 35 % more than girls. Biologically, the main male hormone is testosterone, while that of female ones is an estrogen and progesterone (Jacklin & Maccoby1987). In light with this, it is widely contented that as boys continue to grow, they start taking the personality of physique of a man while girls increase traits of a woman. In another dimension, some cultural theorists believe that the differences seen between men and women are as a result of socialization, not biological. In their argument, women are conditioned to meet men’s conditioned thus they tend to accept a patriarchal structure (Fritz, 2004). Although feminist theorists tend to be united in their view of gender differences, they argue that this should not be equated with women inferiority. Behavior, which is considered to be dysfunctional by the society, is a reflection of less privileged minorities, such as women. The environment Many feminist theories are person-in-environment oriented. The major point of focus is on interaction between personal traits and surrounding. In fact, this is what is taken to mean that politically, these differences exist between men and women are. This is attributed to the interrelationship between different events on private and public sectors. In light with this, some feminists believe that the future can witness a genderless society because it is apparent that the traits labeled to be masculine and feminine are as a result of social construct, which is a custom that is derived right from childhood as children grow (Carroll, 2010). For example, little girls are introduced to cuddly dolls and gossip while little boys are encouraged to play with other boys mostly on games that signify on superiority and leadership traits. In addition, however, differences noted as being contributed to human biology are responsible for the inequality between men and women, which are exhibited in all societies (Riley & Clausen, 1972). A further example is that men, in almost all cultures are take part in warfare, which is an indication that they possess biologically based traits of aggression than women. However, not all researchers agree with such arguments. According to Shaffer (2009), some believe that the level of aggressiveness varies widely between different cultures. For example, in societies where the role of looking after children is seen as a responsibility of both the father and mother, women tend to have a big share of leadership positions than in cultures where mothers are viewed as the only persons that should nurture children. In fact, some researchers believe that women fail to participate in some activities like wars because they spend most of their time nurturing their children, so they do not find time to participate in wars (Barbara, 1992). With such deliberations, it is believed that these are cultural influences, which can be changed. Gender socialization The study of gender socialization is also at the list of influences to gender differences. With the help of the family and media, societies view genders differently. As children grow, they tend to imitate their parents as they take part in plays that make them assume roles portrayed by their parents. Moreover, since almost all cultures view men and women differently, as children emulate their parents; the cycle of copying what their parents do is enhanced when these children interact in schools and other social places. However, opponents of gender differences argue that agents of socialization do not wholly determine the existence of variation in gender (Worell, 2001). What these agents do is to invite children to take part in social practice. In fact, it is argued that the invitation becomes highly influence because of the coerciveness, but no alternative is given. In this regard, opponents of existence of gender differences believe that human beings are not unquestioning recipients of gender programming and that people can modify their roles. On another dimension, media has also been blamed for exaggerating the differences between men and women. In most television programs, male characters tend to play a more active role than female. Feminist researchers have demonstrated how media in conjunction with culture embody different attitudes towards gender in relation to how male and female are expected to behave (Austo-Sterling, 1992). In this regard, as children grow, they tend to emulate what they see and hear from the media. In the analysis of how male and female come to differ physically, it is apparent that most of the biological differences are what people see physically and most of what is considered to be behavioral traits is culturally constructed. In academics, for example, women tend to have a notion that sciences are meant for men. This highly contributes to the ever increasing differences in the number of women and men participating and performing in sciences. In fact, women take up only 10 % in sciences. As researchers try to find the differences in general intelligence between males and females, the concern has been on whether there are any notable innate differences between the two. According to Riley & Roy (2003), a collection of cognitive differences have been associated with biological and cultural influences. In most cases, these factors are argued to be inhibited by political factors, which are believed to be in almost all cultures. Conclusion It is highly believed that men and women are equal in relation to their intellectual capacity. Although men are culturally placed at the top, feminists tend to disagree with such deliberations. However, studies have attributed the differences to the fact that men’s brains are built differently from women brains. Generally men are considered to be aggressive while women are considered to be passive. Biologically, the main male hormone is testosterone, while that of female ones is estrogen and progesterone. Some cultural theorists believe that the differences seen between men and women are as a result of socialization, not biological. Although feminist theorists tend to be united in their view of gender differences, they argue that this should not be equated with women inferiority. Some feminists believe that the traits labeled to be masculine and feminine are as a result of social construct, which is a custom that is derived right from childhood as children grow. In addition, they assert that differences noted as being contributed to human biology are responsible for gender inequality, which are exhibited in all societies. Family and media are also at the list of influences to gender differences. References: Austo-Sterling, A. (1992). Myths of gender: biological theories about women and men. New York, NY: BasicBooks. Barbara B. (1992). Gender Differences in Leadership. Library trends, 40, 3: 475-91. Carroll, J. (2010). Sexuality now: embracing diversity. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth CENGAGE Learning. Fritz, S. (2004). A Survey of Gender-Related Motivation Studies. Journal of Leadership Education, 3, 2: 21-45. Greene, R. (2008). Human behavior theory & social work practice. New Brunswick, N.J.: AldineTransaction. Jacklin, N. & Maccoby, E. (1987). The psychology of sex differences. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford Univ. Press. Riley, M. & Clausen, J. (1972). A sociology of age stratification. New York, NY Russell Sage Foundation. Riley, M. and Roy, K. (2003). The rule of law. Sydney: Federation Press. Shaffer, D. (2009). Social and personality development. Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning. Worell, J. (2001). Encyclopedia of women and gender: sex similarities and differences and the impact of society on gender. San Diego, Calif.; London: Academic. Read More