Challenging Popular Myths of Sex, Gender and Biology

111 Pages·2013·0.847 MB·English

by  Malin Ah-King

Crossroads of Knowledge
Malin Ah-King Editor
Challenging
Popular Myths
of Sex, Gender
and Biology
Crossroads of Knowledge
For further volumes:
http://www.springer.com/series/11893

Malin Ah-King
Editor
Challenging Popular Myths
of Sex, Gender and Biology
Editor
Malin Ah-King
Centre for Gender Research
Uppsala University
Uppsala, Sweden
ISSN 2197-9634 ISSN 2197-9642 (electronic)
ISBN 978-3-319-01978-9 ISBN 978-3-319-01979-6 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-01979-6
Springer Cham Heidelberg New York Dordrecht London
Library of Congress Control Number: 2013952907
© Centre for Gender Research, Uppsala University, Sweden 2013
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Contents
1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Malin Ah-King
2 Fundamental Differences Between Females and Males? . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Root Gorelick , Jessica Carpinone , and Lindsay Jackson Derraugh
3 Genes and Hormones: What Make Up an Individual’s Sex . . . . . . . . . 23
Daniela Crocetti
4 Sexual Conflict and the Dilemma of Stereotyping the Sexes . . . . . . . . 33
Josefi n A. Madjidian , Kristina Karlsson Green , and Åsa Lankinen
5 Sex, Gender, and Evolution Beyond Genes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Jonathan P. Drury
6 Beyond Coy Females and Eager Males: The Evolution
of Darwin’s Sexual Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Thierry Hoquet
7 Human Sex Differences in Height: Evolution due
to Gender Hierarchy? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Priscille Touraille
8 How Do Voices Become Gendered? A Critical Examination
of Everyday and Medical Constructions of the Relationship
Between Voice, Sex, and Gender Identity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
David Azul
9 Parenthood in Norway: Between Politics and Science. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Ole Jacob Madsen
About the Authors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
v

Contributors
Malin Ah-King Centre for Gender Research , Uppsala University , Uppsala ,
Sweden
David Azul La Trobe Rural Health School , La Trobe University , Bendigo , Australia
Jessica Carpinone Department of Biology , Carleton University , Ottawa , ON ,
Canada
Daniela Crocetti Department of Philosophy , University of Bologna , Bologna ,
I taly
Lindsay Jackson Derraugh Department of Biology , Carleton University , Ottawa ,
ON , Canada
Jonathan P. Drury Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology , University
of California, Los Angeles , Los Angeles , CA , USA
Root Gorelick Department of Biology , Carleton University , Ottawa , ON , Canada
School of Mathematics and Statistics, Carleton University , Ottawa , ON , Canada
Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies, Carleton University , Ottawa , ON , Canada
Thierry Hoquet Faculté de Philosophie , Professor of Science History and
Philosophy, University Jean Moulin , Lyon , France
Kristina Karlsson G reen Department of Biology , Lund University , Lund , Sweden
Department of Biosciences, University of Helsinki , Helsinki , Finland
Åsa Lankinen Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Plant Protection
Biology , Alnarp , Sweden
Josefi n A. Madjidian Department of Biology , Lund University , Lund , Sweden
vii
viii Contributors
Ole Jacob Madsen Centre for the Study of the Sciences and the Humanities ,
University of Bergen , Bergen , Norway
Priscille Touraille CNRS, UMR 7206, Equipe d’anthropologie génétique ,
Muséum national d’histoire naturelle , Paris , France
Chapter 1
Introduction
Malin Ah-King
Myths about gender and biology abound. We are constantly fed with ideas about
essential differences between women and men in popular books such as Men Are
from Mars, Women Are from Venus , telling us that we had better accept and approve
of innate differences or we will make ourselves unhappy [1 ] . Biological facts have
often been and are still being used to make claims about what is “natural” and
morally acceptable, thereby justifying oppression based on a variety of grounds for
discrimination such as sex, sexuality, race, and class. In the nineteenth century, it
was considered a scientifi c fact that brain use in women would drain limited energy
from their true reproductive roles [2 ]. Today, biological claims of differences
between men and women turn up everywhere and are used both to justify why men
are not suited to taking care of babies and to substantiate relationship advice.
Biological arguments are sometimes used to account for our behavior when
we cannot control ourselves, and our understanding of biology is internalized
when we refl ect on ourselves as cavemen [3 ] or as driven by hormonal cravings [4 ].
There exist many popular conceptions about biology, sex, gender, and bodies
that stem from supposedly common-sense notions of gender difference, human
evolution, biological processes, and animals. Science often underpins popular
understandings of female-male sexual difference, but current research in biology
also opens up a space for variable and non-static views of sex and gender. Instead of
emphasizing polar differences between females and males, the natural sciences
may underscore variation, sameness, and a continuum of morphologies, behavior,
and processes.
This edited volume presents contributions from international researchers from a
variety of disciplines—biology, history of science, anthropology, human evolution,
and social sciences—all with the aim of challenging popular misconceptions of sex
M. Ah-King (*)
Centre for Gender Research , Uppsala University , Uppsala , Sweden
e-mail: [email protected]
M. Ah-King (ed.), Challenging Popular Myths of Sex, Gender and Biology, 1
Crossroads of Knowledge, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-01979-6_1,
© Centre for Gender Research, Uppsala University, Sweden 2013