Brain storm : the flaws in the science of sex differences PDF
Preview Brain storm : the flaws in the science of sex differences
Brain Storm Brain Storm The Flaws in the Science of Sex Differences REBECCA M. JORDAN-YOUNG HARVARDUNIVERSITYPRESS Cambridge,Massachusetts London,England 2010 Copyright©2010bythePresidentandFellowsofHarvardCollege Allrightsreserved PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData Jordan-Young,RebeccaM.,1963– Brainstorm : theflawsinthescienceofsexdifferences / RebeccaM. Jordan-Young. p. cm. Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. ISBN978–0–674–05730–2(cloth:alk.paper) 1.Brain—Sexdifferences. I.Title. QP81.5.J672010 612.8′2—dc22 2010010165 For Sal Contents Preface ix 1 SexualBrainsandBodyPolitics 1 2 HormonesandHardwiring 21 3 MakingSenseofBrainOrganizationStudies 41 4 ThirteenWaysofLookingatBrainOrganization 65 5 WorkingBackwardfrom“Distinct”Groups 91 6 MasculineandFeminineSexuality 109 7 SexualOrienteering 144 8 Sex-TypedInterests 198 9 TakingContextSeriously 237 10 TradingEssenceforPotential 269 Notes 293 References 339 Acknowledgments 379 Index 383 Preface Mostbookssetouttoanswerquestions.Thisbooksetsouttoquestion answers.TheanswersIquestionhavetodowiththenatureandcausesof differencesbetweenmenandwomen,andbetweenstraightpeopleandgay people. Specifically, I question what we “know” about male and female brains,orgayandstraightbrains. When Simon LeVay reported in 1991 that he had found a difference in brain structure between gay and heterosexual men, which was trumpeted as the discovery of “The Gay Brain,” I found it interesting but also puz- zling.Howcouldgaynesstakeasingleidentifiableforminthebrainwhen ittakessuchvariedformsinpeople’slives? At the time, I had already been engaged for several years in large-scale sexualityresearchrelatedtotheAIDSepidemic.Inanoutreachstorefront inWashington,DC,Iranaprojectthatfocusedoninjectiondrugusers.It wastherethatIfirstmetalotofgaymen.Thesemenwerenottheposter childrenofthegayrightsmovement,butwerepoor,strugglingwithaddic- tionandrecovery,andtryingtoavoidoroutliveAIDS.Andsoweretheir heterosexual brothers, with whom I also worked. In fact, these men were sosimilarindemeanor,dress,anddailystrugglesthatwithoutourdetailed interviews, it was impossible to tell the difference between the gay and straight men. In LeVay’s study, the homosexual men were a singular “type” unlike the (also homogeneous) heterosexual men, and they were also somehow similar to (presumably straight) women. Those are com-
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