Pink and blue ribbons, sports clubs for boys and girls, professions for men and women… It’s the XNUMXst century, but the world still lives on stereotypes born back in the XNUMXth century. The neuroscientist swung at the holy of holies — the myth of the biological differences between the male and female brain, which is debunked by modern science.
There are still many times fewer women in science, politics, and top management. They are paid less than men in the same positions. Moreover, this is noticed even in progressive countries where gender equality is actively proclaimed.
Gender Brain by neuroscientist Gina Rippon is by no means a new weapon in the struggle of feminists around the world for their rights. This is a voluminous — almost 500 pages — analysis of numerous studies conducted over more than a century, referring to the first studies conducted back in the XNUMXth century, to the origins of the stereotype that there is a natural difference between male and female brains.
It is this stereotype, according to the author, that has been misleading not only science, but also society for almost a century and a half.
The book is a real attempt to challenge the postulate that the male brain is somehow superior to the female and vice versa. Why is such a stereotype bad — it has existed for so long, why not continue to follow it? Stereotypes put shackles on our flexible, plastic brain, says Gina Rippon.
So yes, it is imperative to fight them. Including with the help of neurobiology and new technical capabilities of the XNUMXst century. The author followed the «blame the brain» campaign over the years and saw «how diligently scientists were looking for those differences in the brain that would put a woman in her place.»
“If some parameter characterizing the lowest position of a woman does not exist, then it must be invented!” And this measuring frenzy continues into the XNUMXst century.
When Charles Darwin published his revolutionary work On the Origin of Species in 1859 and The Descent of Man in 1871, scientists had a completely new basis for explaining human characteristics — the biological origins of individual physical and mental characteristics, which became an ideal source for explaining differences. between men and women.
Moreover, Darwin developed the theory of sexual selection — about sexual attraction and the choice of a partner for mating.
He clearly outlined the boundaries of women’s opportunities: a woman is at the lowest stage of evolution relative to a man, and the reproductive ability of women is her key function. And she does not need at all the higher qualities of the mind bestowed on a man. “In fact, Darwin was saying that trying to teach a female of this species something or giving her independence could simply disrupt this process,” the researcher explains.
But the latest trends of the second half of the XNUMXth century and the beginning of the XNUMXst show that the level of education and intellectual activity of women does not prevent them from becoming mothers.
Are hormones to blame?
In any discussion about the sex differences in the human brain, the question often arises: “What about hormones?”. The «out of control hormones» already alluded to by MacGregor Allan in the XNUMXth century when he spoke of the menstrual problem became the fashionable explanation for why women should not be given any power or authority.
“Interestingly, the World Health Organization has conducted studies that have found cultural variation in complaints related to the premenstrual phase,” the author counters. — Mood swings were reported almost exclusively by women from Western Europe, Australia and North America; women from oriental cultures, such as the Chinese, were more likely to report physical symptoms, such as swelling, and less likely to report emotional problems.”
In the West, the concept of premenstrual syndrome (PMS) has been so widely accepted that it has become a kind of “inevitably self-fulfilling prophecy.”
PMS was used to interpret events that could just as well be explained by other factors. In one study, women were much more likely to attribute their menstrual state to bad mood, even when other factors were clearly involved.
In another study, it was found that when a woman was misled into showing her physiological parameters indicative of a premenstrual period, she was much more likely to report negative symptoms than a woman who thought it was not yet time for PMS. Of course, some women may experience unpleasant physical and emotional sensations due to fluctuations in hormone levels, the biologist confirms.
In her opinion, the PMS stereotype was a very good example of the blame game and biological determinism. The main evidence for this theory so far is based on experiments with animal hormone levels and major interventions such as oophorectomy and gonadectomy, but such manipulations cannot be replicated in humans.
“In the XNUMXth century, all the research on hormones, supposedly the driving biological force that determines both the brain and behavioral differences between men and women, did not bring up the exact answer that animal studies could give. Of course, hormones have a significant impact on all biological processes, and hormones associated with sex differences are no exception.
But it is much more difficult to prove the assumption that the influence of hormones extends to the characteristics of the brain.
It is clear that the ethical barriers to human experimentation with hormones are insurmountable, Gina Rippon is convinced. Therefore, there is no evidence for this hypothesis. “Recent research by the neuroscientist Sari van Anders of the University of Michigan and others suggests that the relationship between hormones and behavior will be significantly re-evaluated in the XNUMXst century, especially with regard to testosterone’s supposed central role in male aggression and competitiveness.
We consider the strong influence of society and its prejudices as brain-changing variables, and it is obvious that the story is the same with hormones. In turn, hormones are inevitably woven into the relationship of the brain with the environment, ”says the author of the book.
A flexible mind bends to a changing world
In 2017, the BBC program No More Boys and Girls conducted a study on the prevalence of sex and gender stereotypes among XNUMX-year-old girls and boys. The scientists eliminated all possible stereotype symbols from the classroom and then observed the children for six weeks. The researchers wanted to find out How long this would change children’s self-image or behavior.
The results of the initial examination were sad: all the girls wanted to be beautiful, and the boys wanted to be presidents. In addition, girls of 7 years old had much less respect for themselves than boys. The teacher used gender appeals to children: “buddy” for boys, “flower” for girls, considering this an “advanced” device.
Girls underestimated their skill in power games and cried if they got the highest score, while boys, on the contrary, overestimated and sobbed excitedly when they lost. But in just six weeks, the situation has changed significantly: the girls have gained self-confidence and learned how fun it is to play football with the boys.
This experiment is one of the proofs that gender differences are the fruit of social upbringing, and not a biological predisposition at all.
The most important discovery in brain science over the past thirty years has been the plasticity of the brain, not only immediately after birth, but also in later years of life. The brain changes with experience, with the things we do and, surprisingly, the things we don’t.
The discovery of the “experience-based plasticity” that is inherent in the brain throughout life has drawn attention to the critical role of the world around us. The life that a person leads, his professional activities and his favorite sport — all this affects his brain. No one asks anymore what shapes the brain, nature or nurture.
The «nature» of the brain is closely intertwined with the «education» that changes the brain and is conditioned by a person’s life experience. Evidence of plasticity in action can be found in specialists, people who excel in one area or another.
Will their brains be different from the brains of ordinary people and will their brains process professional information differently?
Fortunately, such people have not only talents, but also a willingness to serve as «guinea pigs» for neuroscientists. The differences in the structures of their brains, compared with the brains of «mere mortals», can be safely explained by special skills — musicians who play stringed instruments have a larger area of the motor cortex that controls the left hand, while keyboardists have a more developed area of the right hand.
The part of the brain responsible for hand-eye coordination and error correction is enlarged in outstanding climbers, and the networks that connect movement planning and execution areas with short-term memory become larger in judo champions. And it doesn’t matter what gender the wrestler or climber is.
Blue and pink brain
The first question the scientists asked when they got the data on the brains of babies was about the differences in the brains of girls and boys. One of the most basic assumptions in all the «brain accusations» is that a woman’s brain is different from a man’s brain because they start to develop differently and the differences are programmed and obvious from the earliest stages that can only be explored.
Indeed, even if the brains of girls and boys begin to develop in the same way, there is stronger evidence that the latter’s brains grow faster than the former’s (by about 200 cubic millimeters per day). This growth takes longer and results in a larger brain.
The brain volume of boys reaches its maximum at about 14 years old, for girls this age is about 11 years old. On average, boys’ brains are 9% larger than girls’ brains. In addition, the maximum development of gray and white matter in girls occurs earlier (remember that after a powerful growth of gray matter, its volume begins to decrease as a result of the pruning process).
However, if we take into account the correction for the total brain volume, then no differences remain.
“Total brain size should not be considered a characteristic associated with advantages or disadvantages,” writes Gene Rippon. — Measured macrostructures may not reflect the sexual dimorphism of functionally significant factors, such as interneuronal connections and receptor distribution density.
This highlights the extraordinary variability in both brain size and individual developmental pathways that is observed in this carefully selected group of healthy children. In children of the same age who grow and develop normally, 50 percent differences in brain volume can be observed, and therefore it is necessary to interpret the functional value of the absolute brain volume very carefully.”
Despite the fact that it is generally accepted to talk about the existence of a general asymmetry of the brain from birth, the existence of sex differences can be called a controversial issue. In 2007, scientists at Gilmore’s lab measuring brain volume found that patterns of asymmetry are the same in both female and male infants. Six years later, the same group of scientists used other indicators, the surface area and the depth of the convolutions (depressions between the folds of the medulla).
In this case, other patterns of asymmetry seemed to be found. For example, one of the «convolutions» of the brain in the right hemisphere was found to be 2,1 millimeters deeper in boys than in girls. Such a difference can be characterized as «vanishingly small».
With 20 weeks before a new person arrives, the world is already packing them up in a pink or blue box. As early as three years old, children assign genders to toys, depending on their color. Pink and purple are for girls, blue and brown are for boys.
Is there a biological basis for emerging preferences? Do they really appear so early and will not change throughout life?
American psychologists Vanessa Lobou and Judy Deloah conducted a very interesting study of 200 children from seven months to five years old and carefully monitored how early this preference appears. Participants in the experiment were shown paired objects, one of which was always pink. The result was obvious: until about the age of two, neither boys nor girls showed a craving for pink.
However, after this milestone, everything changed dramatically: girls showed excessive enthusiasm for pink things, and boys actively rejected them. This was especially evident in children three years of age and older. The bottom line is that children, having once learned gender labels, change their behavior.
Thus, scientists who study the brain of an infant in mixed groups do not see a fundamental difference between boys and girls. So who’s peddling the story of brain gender differences? It seems that it is not human biology at all, but society.