{"id":3953,"date":"2013-09-12T22:45:15","date_gmt":"2013-09-12T21:45:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/emilkirkegaard.dk\/en\/?p=3953"},"modified":"2014-10-09T18:51:48","modified_gmt":"2014-10-09T17:51:48","slug":"review-taking-sex-differences-seriously-steven-e-rhoads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emilkirkegaard.dk\/en\/2013\/09\/review-taking-sex-differences-seriously-steven-e-rhoads\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Taking sex differences seriously (Steven E. Rhoads)"},"content":{"rendered":"

http:\/\/bookos.org\/s\/?q=taking+sex+differences&t=0<\/a><\/p>\n

This shortish book contains a wealth of information and 100s of citations. Unfortunately, the author has not kept a high standard of citing things, nor does he make it clear when he cites something less reliable. This makes it the case that one cannot just take the points for granted and have to check every interesting but potentially dubious claim.<\/p>\n

I thought chapters 1-3 were the most interesting, as it was about the science of sex differences. The least interesting part was the one about fatherless families. Pretty much all he cites is a lot of correlational studies, and does not discuss the methodology either.<\/p>\n

Its worth a read if one is interested in a huge collection of sex differences, but its not a good introduction to the science of that area. For that, try David Buss’s introduction to evolutionary psychology instead.<\/p>\n

–<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

In 1966, a botched circumcision left one of two male identical<\/span><\/p>\n

twins without a penis. A leading sex psychologist, Dr. John<\/span><\/p>\n

Money of Johns Hopkins University, persuaded the parents to<\/span><\/p>\n

raise the toddler as a female. When the child was twenty-two months<\/span><\/p>\n

old, surgeons castrated him and constructed what appeared from<\/span><\/p>\n

the outside to be female genitalia. Called Brenda and treated like a<\/span><\/p>\n

girl, the child was later prescribed female steroids to \u201cfacilitate and<\/span><\/p>\n

mimic female pubertal growth and feminization.\u201d1<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

When Brenda was twelve, Dr. Money reported that she and<\/span><\/p>\n

her parents had adjusted well.2 The media loved the story of the<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201copposite-sex identical twins.\u201d In a long report, Time magazine<\/span><\/p>\n

called the case \u201cstrong support\u201d for the view that \u201cconventional<\/span><\/p>\n

patterns of masculine and feminine behavior can be altered.\u201d The<\/span><\/p>\n

1979 Textbook of Sexual Medicine noted the girl\u2019s \u201cremarkably<\/span><\/p>\n

feminine\u201d development, which was taken as demonstrating the<\/span><\/p>\n

flexibility and \u201cplasticity of human gender identity and the rela-<\/span><\/p>\n

tive importance of social learning and conditioning in this<\/span><\/p>\n

process.\u201d3<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

In academia, numerous introductory psychology and sociol-<\/span><\/p>\n

ogy texts used the case to argue that sex roles are basically learned.4<\/span><\/p>\n

Theorists who believed that gender roles are socially constructed<\/span><\/p>\n

were ecstatic. In 1994, Judith Lorber described how the girl\u2019s par-<\/span><\/p>\n

ents \u201cbent over backwards to feminize the girl and succeeded. Frilly<\/span><\/p>\n

dresses, hair ribbons, and jewelry created a pride in looks, neatness<\/span><\/p>\n

and \u2018daintiness.\u2019\u201d The social construction of gender, she concluded,<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201coverrode any possibly inborn traits.\u201d5<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

In retrospect, one wonders whether it is fair to say that what<\/span><\/p>\n

happened to Brenda was simply \u201csocial construction.\u201d With the injec-<\/span><\/p>\n

tion of female hormones and without the male hormones coming<\/span><\/p>\n

from testicles, Brenda was getting a bit more encouragement toward<\/span><\/p>\n

femininity than families and society usually administer. Nonethe-<\/span><\/p>\n

less, when the facts became more accurately known, it was clear<\/span><\/p>\n

that neither the chemicals nor the socialization efforts had succeeded<\/span><\/p>\n

in making Brenda a girl. Some hardworking researchers and jour-<\/span><\/p>\n

nalists were able to show that Dr. Money had completely misrepre-<\/span><\/p>\n

sented the results of his experiment. In the early 1990s, they located<\/span><\/p>\n

the grown-up Brenda and found that she was now named David,<\/span><\/p>\n

working in a slaughterhouse, married to a woman, and the adop-<\/span><\/p>\n

tive father of three children.6 At age fourteen, Brenda had decided<\/span><\/p>\n

to start living as a male, and at \ufb01fteen, she had been told the truth<\/span><\/p>\n

about her biological past. She then announced that she had always<\/span><\/p>\n

felt like a male and wanted to become one again. She was given a<\/span><\/p>\n

mastectomy, male hormones and a constructed penis.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

The story that emerged revealed that David had always acted<\/span><\/p>\n

like a male even when everyone in his world had told him he was a<\/span><\/p>\n

female and should behave like one. The \ufb01rst time \u201cBrenda\u201d was put<\/span><\/p>\n

in a dress, she pulled it off. When given a jump rope, she tied people<\/span><\/p>\n

up or whipped them with it. At nine, she bought a toy machine gun<\/span><\/p>\n

when she was supposed to buy an umbrella. The toy sewing machine<\/span><\/p>\n

went untouched; she preferred to build forts and play with dump trucks.<\/span><\/p>\n

She rejected cosmetics and imitated her dad shaving. On a trip to New<\/span><\/p>\n

York, she found the Rockettes to be sexy. She wanted to urinate stand-<\/span><\/p>\n

ing up. On the playground, her kindergarten and elementary school<\/span><\/p>\n

teachers were struck by her \u201cpressing, aggressive need to dominate.\u201d7<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

As the real story of the reconstruction of David was made pub-<\/span><\/p>\n

lic, responsible researchers on the Johns Hopkins medical staff<\/span><\/p>\n

decided they should find out what had become of the many boys<\/span><\/p>\n

born without penises, most of whom had been castrated and sub-<\/span><\/p>\n

sequently raised as girls. Of twenty-\ufb01ve located (ranging in age from<\/span><\/p>\n

five to sixteen), every single one exhibited the rough-and-tumble<\/span><\/p>\n

play more characteristic of boys than girls. Fourteen had declared<\/span><\/p>\n

themselves to be boys, in one case as early as age \ufb01ve. Two children<\/span><\/p>\n

were found who were born without a penis but had not been cas-<\/span><\/p>\n

trated or sexually reassigned. Both these children, raised as boys, \ufb01t<\/span><\/p>\n

in well with their male peers and \u201cwere better adjusted psycholog-<\/span><\/p>\n

ically than the reassigned children.\u201d8<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

On hearing this Johns Hopkins paper, Dr. Margaret Legato, a<\/span><\/p>\n

Columbia University professor of medicine and an expert on sex-<\/span><\/p>\n

ual differentiation, asserted: \u201cWhen the brain has been masculin-<\/span><\/p>\n

ized by exposure to testosterone [in the womb], it is kind of useless<\/span><\/p>\n

to say to this individual, \u2018you\u2019re a girl.\u2019 It is this impact of testos-<\/span><\/p>\n

terone that gives males the feelings that they are men.\u201d9<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Im surprised it didnt work better than it did. This is a huge change in environment and hormonal levels, even castration. Nature is stubborn, very stubborn.<\/p>\n

\n

–<\/p>\n

\n

Other writers whose approach to gender has been in\ufb02uenced<\/span><\/p>\n

by biology have more directly blamed feminists for ignoring or belit-<\/span><\/p>\n

tling good science on sex differences.22 But the other side replies that<\/span><\/p>\n

some of the sociobiological literature is \ufb01lled with \u201csexism,\u201d \u201cbiased<\/span><\/p>\n

selection of examples\u201d and \u201ca social construction of gender that is<\/span><\/p>\n

relatively independent of the facts.\u201d23 Mainstream feminists regu-<\/span><\/p>\n

larly charge that a hidden or not so hidden agenda meant to pre-<\/span><\/p>\n

serve male status lies behind the sex difference research.24<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Feminists who make charges of this kind are often remarkably<\/span><\/p>\n

candid in declaring that their politics in\ufb02uence their scienti\ufb01c judg-<\/span><\/p>\n

ments. Thus Anne Fausto-Sterling admits to demanding \u201cthe high-<\/span><\/p>\n

est standards of proof . . . on claims about biological inequality.\u201d25<\/span><\/p>\n

Sheila Tobias, author of Overcoming Math Anxiety, says she does<\/span><\/p>\n

research on girls and math to get the truth, but also to get the coun-<\/span><\/p>\n

try to believe that girls have the potential to perform equally with<\/span><\/p>\n

boys.26<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Ah, the difference of standards of evidence. https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Moving_the_goalposts<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Note that this is not grounded in any claims about it being extraordinarily claims, and thus having a low prior and thus needing stronger evidence to get P>0.5.<\/p>\n

\n

–<\/p>\n

\n

Today, however, the majority of the sex difference researchers<\/span><\/p>\n

who focus on biology are women. In preparing his book on sex dif-<\/span><\/p>\n

ferences, Robert Pool read widely and spoke to many researchers<\/span><\/p>\n

in the \ufb01eld, and was struck by the fact that this research fraternity<\/span><\/p>\n

was \u201creally a sorority. Most of the scientists doing the provocative,<\/span><\/p>\n

ground-breaking research into human sex preferences are women.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

This seems to be for two reasons: First, men are wary about pub-<\/span><\/p>\n

lishing any findings that might bring charges of sexism. Second,<\/span><\/p>\n

some female researchers seem to have been suspicious about what<\/span><\/p>\n

their male colleagues were up to; these women say they got involved<\/span><\/p>\n

because they believed that male researchers were neglecting the seri-<\/span><\/p>\n

ous study of women. Others did so because they were intrigued and<\/span><\/p>\n

troubled by some differences favoring men and they wanted to \ufb01nd<\/span><\/p>\n

out what could explain these results.37 Pool \ufb01nds that almost all of<\/span><\/p>\n

these female researchers \u201cidentify themselves as feminists or at least<\/span><\/p>\n

sympathize with feminist goals. . . . They are not fools or tools of<\/span><\/p>\n

male-dominated society, nor do they have any hidden agendas, and<\/span><\/p>\n

they uniformly resent such implications.\u201d38<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Many of these female researchers also began their studies con-<\/span><\/p>\n

vinced that sex differences were minimal and that societal forces<\/span><\/p>\n

caused those that existed. John Williams and Deborah Best, for exam-<\/span><\/p>\n

ple, began their international comparison of stereotypes believing<\/span><\/p>\n

there was no basis for them, but concluded that they had \u201ca substan-<\/span><\/p>\n

tial degree of behavioral validity\u201d and were explained in part by biol-<\/span><\/p>\n

ogy.39 Similarly, Diane Halpern intended to demonstrate that any<\/span><\/p>\n

gender differences in cognition were the result of \u201csocialization prac-<\/span><\/p>\n

tices, artifacts and mistakes in the research, and bias and prejudice.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

After reviewing a pile of journal articles that stood several feet high<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

and numerous books and book chapters that dwarfed the stack of<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

journal articles, I changed my mind. . . . [T]here are real, and in some<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

cases sizable, sex differences with respect to some cognitive abilities.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Socialization practices are undoubtedly important, [sic] there is also<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

good evidence that biological sex differences play a role.40<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

It is not usually pleasant to change one\u2019s mind about core convic-<\/span><\/p>\n

tions, but these researchers say the data has forced them to do so.41<\/span><\/p>\n

Eleanor Maccoby\u2019s research has led her to give more emphasis to<\/span><\/p>\n

biology in her study of children. In a recent lecture, after noting the<\/span><\/p>\n

stereotypical pattern of young boys\u2019 and girls\u2019 fantasy stories (Bat-<\/span><\/p>\n

man and the like for boys, brides and ballet for girls), Maccoby told<\/span><\/p>\n

her audience of fellow academics, \u201cI too want to say, \u2018ugh.\u2019\u201d42 But<\/span><\/p>\n

the truth was the truth.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Nature really is stubborn.<\/p>\n

\n

–<\/p>\n

\n

Many other male hobbyists, like the Battlebot community of<\/span><\/p>\n

technonerds, have interests that focus on machines or war. There<\/span><\/p>\n

are the car enthusiasts, the model train lovers, the war board-game<\/span><\/p>\n

connoisseurs, the Civil War buffs. These hobbyists are single-minded<\/span><\/p>\n

about what they love; and studies have found single-mindedness<\/span><\/p>\n

and a highly focused brain to be more characteristic of men than<\/span><\/p>\n

women.107<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

This seems like an interesting claim, it is especially related to geniuses, of which there is an extreme sex ratio. Note 107 leads to: Moir, 1999, pp. 253\u201355; Lubinski et al., 1993, p. 702.<\/p>\n

\n

which leads to<\/p>\n

\n

Moir, Anne, and Bill Moir. 1999. Why Men Don\u2019t Iron. New York:<\/p>\n

Citadel Press.<\/p>\n

\n

Lubinski, David, C. P. Benbow and C. E. Sanders. 1993. Reconceptu-<\/p>\n

alizing Gender Differences in Achievement among the Gifted. In<\/p>\n

International Handbook of Research and Development of Gifted-<\/p>\n

ness and Talent, ed. K. A. Heller, F. J. Monks and A. H. Passow.<\/p>\n

London: Pergamon Press.<\/p>\n

\n

unfortunately, these are both books so i cant look them up easily.<\/p>\n

\n

–<\/p>\n

\n

In 1975, the California Department of Education went so far<\/span><\/p>\n

as to reject reading texts with any portrayal of women in a house-<\/span><\/p>\n

hold role. The publisher Open Court appealed the rejection of its<\/span><\/p>\n

reading texts, which had already been revised to meet standards of<\/span><\/p>\n

gender equality. (The publisher noted that California bureaucrats<\/span><\/p>\n

had even complained about a brief reference to Mother Hubbard.)145<\/span><\/p>\n

Open Court made little headway. In later editions of the text, for<\/span><\/p>\n

example, The Little Engine That Could became female.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

It may be time to start questioning the assumption that soci-<\/span><\/p>\n

ety pressures young women to be homemakers. My observations of<\/span><\/p>\n

bright University of Virginia students suggest that they feel pres-<\/span><\/p>\n

sured in other directions entirely. I remember one young woman<\/span><\/p>\n

with a 3.8 grade point average in economics who told me how furi-<\/span><\/p>\n

ous she was at her economics professors. When she told them she<\/span><\/p>\n

loved children and wanted to be an elementary school teacher, they<\/span><\/p>\n

let her know they were disappointed\u2014she could do so much more.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

I encounter feminist students who seem to have absorbed all<\/span><\/p>\n

of their teachers\u2019 opinions but whose hearts appear to be at war<\/span><\/p>\n

with their opinions. In class they are sure that women would be<\/span><\/p>\n

physicists and engineers\u2014or, at the very least, have demanding<\/span><\/p>\n

careers of some kind\u2014if it were not for discriminatory socializa-<\/span><\/p>\n

tion. I remember one of my students who openly declared that she<\/span><\/p>\n

was looking for a husband who would be the \u201cwife\u201d so she could<\/span><\/p>\n

quickly advance in her career. But when our discussion meandered<\/span><\/p>\n

into the popularity of romance novels, she said she read them all<\/span><\/p>\n

the time. When I expressed surprise and asked why she would pur-<\/span><\/p>\n

chase so many books \ufb01lled with powerful and worldly heroes and<\/span><\/p>\n

spirited but traditional heroines, she said, \u201cLots of things I do have<\/span><\/p>\n

nothing to do with what I spout around campus all day.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Indeed, the effect of the environment is proved to be of smaller importance, since women are routinely exposed to these anti-traditional stories, and yet they still prefer natural<\/em> gender roles. Nature triumphs over environment here.<\/p>\n

\n

–<\/p>\n

\n

It is not surprising, though, that women everywhere seem to<\/span><\/p>\n

care very much about how they look. In Syrian universities, women<\/span><\/p>\n

attending classes with men spend as much time dressing for classes<\/span><\/p>\n

as American women spend dressing for a dinner party. On the streets,<\/span><\/p>\n

demure Muslim girls in head scarves practice a \u201cbelow the knees<\/span><\/p>\n

exhibitionism\u201d with sheer stockings and sling-back heels beneath<\/span><\/p>\n

their skirts.90 A student who spent a summer in a small Jordanian<\/span><\/p>\n

city confirms that when Islamic women are not allowed to show<\/span><\/p>\n

hair or ears and when they wear their skirts to their ankles, they use<\/span><\/p>\n

more makeup than Western women do and spend more time on<\/span><\/p>\n

pedicures. A recent study examining the self-images of Iranian-born<\/span><\/p>\n

women living in Los Angeles and Tehran found that the latter group,<\/span><\/p>\n

largely unexposed to Western media and required to wear body-<\/span><\/p>\n

encasing clothes, were nonetheless more concerned about their weight<\/span><\/p>\n

and more dissatisfied with their bodies, on average, than were the<\/span><\/p>\n

women living in Los Angeles.91<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

We will see in the next section that men also have to compete,<\/span><\/p>\n

in those areas that women care about. Still, it seems unfair, in some<\/span><\/p>\n

cosmic sense, that men can attract women in different ways\u2014through<\/span><\/p>\n

success in politics, business, sports or music, for instance\u2014whereas<\/span><\/p>\n

for women so much depends on how they look. As a thoughtful author<\/span><\/p>\n

of a book on beauty puts it, \u201cEvery woman finds herself, without her<\/span><\/p>\n

consent, entered into a beauty contest with every other woman.\u201d92<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

As long as men love female beauty, women will care about<\/span><\/p>\n

their appearance. And the \u201cmale gaze\u201d so often attacked bySex 61<\/span><\/p>\n

mainstream feminists will continue to please as well as annoy. As a<\/span><\/p>\n

younger woman, writer Anne Roche Muggeridge hated the street<\/span><\/p>\n

taunts and the \u201chorrid, cold-faced girl-watching in school corridors<\/span><\/p>\n

and pubs.\u201d But, like most women, she enjoyed being \u201capprovingly<\/span><\/p>\n

noticed.\u201d She even liked\u2014\u201cvery much\u201d liked\u2014the clearest sign of<\/span><\/p>\n

such notice, the wolf-whistle:<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Girls don\u2019t know whether they are pretty or not. They stand in despair<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

in front of their mirrors and wail to their mothers: I look so ugly!<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

[Mothers reassure,] and the daughters don\u2019t believe it. But when a<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

group of young, handsome male strangers spontaneously burst into<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

a chorus of admiring notes, a girl must, even in her confusion and<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

diffidence, experience a glow of pleasure and a dawning self-<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

confidence.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Muggeridge wishes she were still in \u201cthe being-whistled-at age<\/span><\/p>\n

bracket.\u201d93 Other women approaching their fifties also feel a loss<\/span><\/p>\n

because men no longer gaze at them in \u201cthat safe but sexual kind<\/span><\/p>\n

of way.\u201d94 Indeed, feminists such as Germaine Greer are among those<\/span><\/p>\n

who have complained about becoming invisible to men as they grow<\/span><\/p>\n

older.95<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

It is impossible to please these women. Damned if u whistle, damned if u dont…<\/p>\n

\n

It also reminds me of a similarly natural but irrational man thing: trying to impress prostitutes. https:\/\/maggiemcneill.wordpress.com\/2013\/03\/26\/book-review-superfreakonomics\/<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

–<\/p>\n

\n

A few years ago, a student brought me a romance novel, Laura<\/span><\/p>\n

Taylor\u2019s Anticipation, that was used in her course on women\u2019s lit-<\/span><\/p>\n

erature. She said the climactic scene appeared to her to be a rape.<\/span><\/p>\n

In it Spence declares that Viva and he will marry, and Viva asserts<\/span><\/p>\n

they will not. Her blue eyes flash as she walks out of the room toward<\/span><\/p>\n

her bedroom. He follows, relieves her of her wine glass, and smiles<\/span><\/p>\n

at the outraged expression on her face. He scoops her up and deposits<\/span><\/p>\n

her on the bed while shedding his clothes in record time. She glares<\/span><\/p>\n

at him and says, \u201cAre you deaf?\u201d He gently topples her on her back.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Leaning over her, he efficiently jerked the front of her caftan apart,<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

sending dozens of buttons flying every which way, then stripped it<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

off her body.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat do you think you are doing?\u201d she demanded as she glared<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

at him.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

He watched her nipples tighten into mauve nuggets that invited his<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

mouth. \u201cEasing your tension,\u201d he announced in a matter of fact tone,<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

despite the heat flooding his loins and engorging his sex. He came<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

down over her, his hips lodging between her thighs, his upper body<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

weight braced by his arms. \u201cAs sexist as that probably sounds.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

She squirmed, trying to free herself, and a sound of fury burst out<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

of her when she failed to budge him.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Spence abruptly says their children should have names. She asks<\/span><\/p>\n

what children; they are not getting married. He declares his love.<\/span><\/p>\n

She asks if he is sure. He\u2019s \u201c\u2018never been more sure of anything in<\/span><\/p>\n

my life.\u2019\u201d He asks if she will make babies and grow old with him.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Yes, Yes, Yes!\u2019\u201d Then they make love \u201cas their bodies, hearts and<\/span><\/p>\n

souls mated forever.\u201d141<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

This is very rough sex, in which consent comes only after the<\/span><\/p>\n

man has forcefully and matter-of-factly stripped off the woman\u2019s<\/span><\/p>\n

clothes and placed his nude and aroused body between her legs. It<\/span><\/p>\n

comes as the high point in a fantasy aimed at women.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

There have been many academic studies of sexual fantasies.<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the most interesting has found that pornographic films can<\/span><\/p>\n

be classified by theme. Of the nine themes reported by psychologist<\/span><\/p>\n

Roy Baumeister, the one that was by far the most sexually arousing<\/span><\/p>\n

for women<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

involved a woman who was initially reluctant to have sex but changed<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

her mind during the scene and became an active willing participant<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

in sexual activity.142 [This study and another] suggest that the woman\u2019s<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

transition from no to yes, as an idea, increases sexual excitement.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

A review of the literature on sexual fantasies found that fantasies<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

of being overpowered and forced to have sex were far more common<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

among women than men. In some studies, over half the female sam-<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

ple reported fantasies of being overpowered, and other research found<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

a third of women endorsing such specific fantasies as being a slave<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

who must obey a man\u2019s every wish. When women are given lists of<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

sexual fantasies to choose among, that of being forced sexually is<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

sometimes the first or second most frequently chosen one.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

And the ubiquitous rape fantasies: http:\/\/www.psychologytoday.com\/blog\/all-about-sex\/201001\/womens-rape-fantasies-how-common-what-do-they-mean<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

–<\/p>\n

\n

To proliferate their genes, our male ancestors either mated with<\/span><\/p>\n

many women or promoted their offspring\u2019s survival by supporting<\/span><\/p>\n

and defending the mother and children. In a subculture where it is<\/span><\/p>\n

possible to take either the quantity or the quality approach to sir-<\/span><\/p>\n

ing the next generation, McSeed, with less of what social scientists<\/span><\/p>\n

call \u201cembodied capital\u201d than more mainstream males, is better able<\/span><\/p>\n

to succeed with the quantity approach.60 A white version of McSeed<\/span><\/p>\n

was more recently in the news when the Wisconsin Supreme Court<\/span><\/p>\n

af\ufb01rmed a judgment forbidding a man named David Oakley from<\/span><\/p>\n

having any more children until he supported those he already had.<\/span><\/p>\n

Oakley, an unemployed factory worker, had nine children by four<\/span><\/p>\n

different women.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

that doesnt sound legal… where is the eugenics police?<\/p>\n

\n

besides, quality vs. quantity, see: https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/R\/K_selection_theory<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

besides, the roles that fathers can provide: resources and protection, we now have the state to be and the police. to be sure, fathers are still those paying for the state and hence the police, but they arent the immediate helper, making them seem less important.<\/p>\n

\n

–<\/p>\n

\n

In addition, one letter writer had a question about how to greet<\/span><\/p>\n

a guy she had hooked up with who never called again, and another<\/span><\/p>\n

asked whether the guy she slept with on the \ufb01rst date will think she<\/span><\/p>\n

is a total slut. The \u201cadvice guy\u201d responded that it depends on the<\/span><\/p>\n

guy. A poll in another issue, however, found that 76 percent of male<\/span><\/p>\n

respondents said they would not date again any girl they slept with<\/span><\/p>\n

on the \ufb01rst date.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

No source given. Really? why does it matter?<\/p>\n

\n

–<\/p>\n

\n

Men want more space than women do. In the workplace, men<\/span><\/p>\n

have a much stronger desire than women for jobs with no close<\/span><\/p>\n

supervision. Studies show that women like to be alone within the<\/span><\/p>\n

con\ufb01nes of a bedroom or an of\ufb01ce, whereas men are more likely to<\/span><\/p>\n

need real isolation\u2014a long drive or a trip to the mountains. Think<\/span><\/p>\n

also of those frequently solitary and overwhelmingly male pastimes,<\/span><\/p>\n

hunting and \ufb01shing. No matter how good their relationships, men<\/span><\/p>\n

are far more likely than women to report that they need free time<\/span><\/p>\n

to relax and pursue hobbies away from their mates.119<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Boys do travel in large groups, bonded by a mutual interest in<\/span><\/p>\n

the same activities; but they are relatively more attached to things,<\/span><\/p>\n

less to people. From childhood, girls but not boys focus on close<\/span><\/p>\n

relationships and, especially, a best friend.120 When female college<\/span><\/p>\n

students tell stories about themselves, they speak of friends and com-<\/span><\/p>\n

munity; they are often giving or receiving advice, and if they act<\/span><\/p>\n

alone, something bad happens. Men\u2019s stories are very frequently<\/span><\/p>\n

about acting alone in contests, and they have happy outcomes.121<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

There is an okcupid question on this one can data mine:<\/p>\n

\n

<\/a>How important is it to you to have your own unique “thing” (like a weekly Girls’ Night Out or Guys’ Movie Night) that you don’t share with your partner(s)?<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Very – I need some ME time to be happy<\/em><\/p>\n

Sort of – I need friends outside of my partner<\/em><\/p>\n

Not much – I like sharing stuff with my partner<\/em><\/p>\n

I’d prefer not to have exclusive things <\/em><\/p>\n

\n

–<\/p>\n

\n

Moreover, it is a massive risk to rely on modern medicine to<\/span><\/p>\n

help reset the biological clock and make late childbirth safer. Recent<\/span><\/p>\n

studies have revealed increased rates of major birth defects in infants<\/span><\/p>\n

born through intracytoplasmic sperm injection and in vitro fertil-<\/span><\/p>\n

ization over those conceived naturally. Even after controlling for the<\/span><\/p>\n

age of the mother and other factors, a child conceived by either IVF<\/span><\/p>\n

or ICSI is still more than twice as likely to be diagnosed with a major<\/span><\/p>\n

birth defect than is a naturally conceived child.135<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

probably due to insufficient embryo selection: https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Embryo_quality<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

–<\/p>\n

\n

Women in their late twenties are, with reason, much more pes-<\/span><\/p>\n

simistic today about ever marrying.139 Studies show that \u201cthe older<\/span><\/p>\n

she gets, the harder it is for a college-educated woman to \ufb01nd a hus-<\/span><\/p>\n

band.\u201d College-educated women \u201ctend to seek husbands who are<\/span><\/p>\n

slightly older and have even higher levels of education and achieve-<\/span><\/p>\n

ment than they do,\u201d140 but the number of men in this already lim-<\/span><\/p>\n

ited pool declines as women age. So it is not surprising that 63 percent<\/span><\/p>\n

of women hope to meet their future husband in college. They will<\/span><\/p>\n

never again be surrounded by so many eligible men who share their<\/span><\/p>\n

interests and aspirations.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

One wonders about the effects of the fact that there are now about 2 women per 1 man with a university degree. If womens hypergamy leads them to select blindly for degrees, there will be a lack of such men. Uh oh!<\/p>\n

\n

–<\/p>\n

\n

What does one say to a boy who continually badgers a girl for<\/span><\/p>\n

oral sex? Or who sticks his crotch in the girl\u2019s face? The answer is<\/span><\/p>\n

that we can\u2019t say much if we assume that there are no differences<\/span><\/p>\n

between males and females. We often can get young people to be<\/span><\/p>\n

more considerate by saying, \u201cHow would you feel if someone did<\/span><\/p>\n

that to you?\u201d That might work if a boy took a girl\u2019s book bag. If<\/span><\/p>\n

we say, \u201cHow would you feel if she did that to you\u201d about the crotch-<\/span><\/p>\n

in-the-face stunt, the boy is likely to say, \u201cThat would be great.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Most boys don\u2019t \ufb01nd this sort of behavior degrading or obnox-<\/span><\/p>\n

ious. Why should they believe that girls do? If sex is recreational,<\/span><\/p>\n

why is it degrading?<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Another failing of the golden rule. https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Golden_Rule<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

the generalized failure condition for that is when people do not share interests or desires. if one tries to fix it one gets: act so that ur actions is what the other desires… which is just preference utilitarianism on a local level. ;)<\/p>\n

\n

–<\/p>\n

\n

Starting education early might be expected to improve the<\/span><\/p>\n

school performance of inner-city children; and this does hold true<\/span><\/p>\n

for girls. Those who went through Head Start are only one-third as<\/span><\/p>\n

likely as girls of similar socioeconomic backgrounds to drop out of<\/span><\/p>\n

high school years later. But for boys, Head Start seems to have no<\/span><\/p>\n

effect on high school completion rates.104<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

cite goes to: Mathews and Strauss, 2000.<\/p>\n

\n

Mathews, Jay, and Valerie Strauss. 2000. Head Start Works for Girls.<\/p>\n

Washington Post, 10 October.<\/p>\n

\n

meh!<\/p>\n

\n

I re-read Murrays description of Head Start studies.<\/p>\n

\n

http:\/\/www.aei.org\/article\/education\/the-shaky-science-behind-obamas-universal-pre-k\/<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

he writes<\/p>\n

\n

This brings us to the third-grade follow-up of the national impact assessment of Head Start, submitted to the government in October and released to the public late last year. Head Start has been operating since the 1960s. After decades of evaluations that mostly showed no effects, Congress decided in 1998 to mandate a large-scale, rigorous, independent evaluation of Head Start\u2019s impact, including randomized assignment, representative samplings of programs and a comprehensive set of outcomes observed over time.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Of the 47 outcome measures reported separately for the 3- year-old and 4-year-old cohorts that were selected for the treatment group, 94 separate results in all, only six of them showed a statistically significant difference between the treatment and control group at the .05 level of probability — just a little more than the number you would expect to occur by chance. The evaluators, recognizing this, applied a statistical test that guards against such \u201cfalse discoveries.\u201d Out of the 94 measures, just two survived that test, one positive and one negative.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

The executive summary is here:<\/p>\n

\n

http:\/\/www.acf.hhs.gov\/programs\/opre\/resource\/third-grade-follow-up-to-the-head-start-impact-study-final-report-executive<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

In summary, there were initial positive impacts from having access to Head Start, but <\/span><\/p>\n

by the end of 3<\/span>rd<\/sup><\/span> grade there were very few impacts found for either cohort in any of the four <\/span><\/p>\n

domains of cognitive, social-emotional, health and parenting practices. The few impacts that <\/span><\/p>\n

were found did not show a clear pattern of favorable or unfavorable impacts for children. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Head start does NOT WORK.<\/p>\n

\n

–<\/p>\n

\n

But the progress that Senator Kennedy wants will come at the<\/span><\/p>\n

expense of lost opportunities for still more male athletes. From 1985<\/span><\/p>\n

to 1997, over 21,000 collegiate spots for male athletes disappeared.<\/span><\/p>\n

Over 359 teams for men have disappeared just since 1992.8 <\/span><\/p>\n

Christine Stolba of the Independent Women\u2019s Forum commented to the<\/span><\/p>\n

Title IX commission that \u201cBetween 1993 and 1999 alone 53 men\u2019s<\/span><\/p>\n

golf teams, 39 men\u2019s track teams, 43 wrestling teams, and 16 base-<\/span><\/p>\n

ball teams have been eliminated. The University of Miami\u2019s diving<\/span><\/p>\n

team, which has produced 15 Olympic athletes, is gone.\u201d9<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

I didnt know anyone was foolish enuf to have affirmative action for sports…<\/p>\n

\n

–<\/p>\n

\n

But the Of\ufb01ce of Civil Rights in the Department of Education<\/span><\/p>\n

rules that cheerleading and competitive dance are not sports, and<\/span><\/p>\n

that participants do not count for Title IX compliance purposes.<\/span><\/p>\n

The principal problem seems to be that cheerleaders and dance teams<\/span><\/p>\n

usually perform to raise spirit at contests played by other, usually<\/span><\/p>\n

male, athletes.92 As one ex-cheerleader told me, cheerleading has a<\/span><\/p>\n

sel\ufb02ess quality\u2014it\u2019s getting people to yell for other people.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Apparently it doesn\u2019t matter if these people compete as well<\/span><\/p>\n

as cheer for others. The Office of Civil Rights deems that at least<\/span><\/p>\n

half their appearances must be in a competitive setting, or their activ-<\/span><\/p>\n

ity is not a sport. In response, the University of Maryland recently<\/span><\/p>\n

divided its cheerleading team into a \u201cspirit squad\u201d and a competi-<\/span><\/p>\n

tive squad. The latter group will perform only at competitions and<\/span><\/p>\n

will be eligible for scholarship money, a move \u201cdesigned to keep<\/span><\/p>\n

Maryland in compliance with Title IX while returning some schol-<\/span><\/p>\n

arships to the school\u2019s eight underfunded men\u2019s programs.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Senior team member Erin Valenti opted to stay with the spirit<\/span><\/p>\n

squad, which must fundraise to cover its costs. \u201cThey\u2019re splitting<\/span><\/p>\n

us only so they can convince whoever the head of Title IX is that<\/span><\/p>\n

cheerleading can be considered a sport,\u201d she said. \u201cTo make it a<\/span><\/p>\n

sport, you\u2019re taking out the whole reason to do cheering to begin<\/span><\/p>\n

with.\u201d That is, the cheering part.93<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

The Women\u2019s Sports Foundation\u2019s Web page contains a posi-<\/span><\/p>\n

tion statement supporting the current policies that deny sports sta-<\/span><\/p>\n

tus to cheerleaders who compete less than they cheer for others.94<\/span><\/p>\n

But the Web page also has a \u201cWomen\u2019s Sports on TV\u201d section that<\/span><\/p>\n

includes listings for yoga and aerobics shows.95 If yoga and aero-<\/span><\/p>\n

bics are sports, why aren\u2019t cheerleading and dance?<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

I rather universities did not have these sports stuff. Its a US thing, or at least DA universities do not do this. They do something else tho, have science show competitions.<\/p>\n

\n

there is a european page about it here: http:\/\/wiki.europhysicsfun.org\/<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

–<\/p>\n

\n

Not only do these feminists want to limit women\u2019s choices, but<\/span><\/p>\n

NOW also wants to withhold information that might lead women<\/span><\/p>\n

to make the \u201cwrong\u201d choices. I noted earlier that many highly edu-<\/span><\/p>\n

cated women greatly overestimate their chances of getting pregnant<\/span><\/p>\n

after age forty. In the summer of 2002, the American Society for<\/span><\/p>\n

Reproductive Medicine wanted to place public service ads in shop-<\/span><\/p>\n

ping malls and movie theaters that could have helped correct this<\/span><\/p>\n

misinformation. The ads were designed to enable women to make<\/span><\/p>\n

reproductive choices based on the facts. In particular, they wanted<\/span><\/p>\n

to tell women how they could prevent infertility.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

The opposition of groups such as NOW aborted the whole<\/span><\/p>\n

program. The ad that particularly angered NOW contained the mes-<\/span><\/p>\n

sage: \u201cAdvancing Age Decreases Your Ability to Have Children.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

NOW accused the doctors of using \u201cscare tactics.\u201d They further<\/span><\/p>\n

argued that \u201cthe ads sent a negative message to women who might<\/span><\/p>\n

want to delay or skip childbearing in favor of career pursuits.\u201d139<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

–<\/p>\n

\n

Some sleep scientists believe that the mothers\u2019 breathing and<\/span><\/p>\n

heartbeat would help prevent sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)<\/span><\/p>\n

if Western mothers slept with their children. This view is controver-<\/span><\/p>\n

sial with some U.S. doctors who emphasize the instances of adults<\/span><\/p>\n

inadvertently suffocating babies who share their bed.196 Nonethe-<\/span><\/p>\n

less, the international comparisons are striking. The U.S. has far and<\/span><\/p>\n

away the highest rate of SIDS in the world (2 per 1,000)\u2014ten times<\/span><\/p>\n

higher than Japan and one hundred times higher than Hong Kong,<\/span><\/p>\n

both countries where mothers routinely sleep with their children. In<\/span><\/p>\n

most of the world, parents sleep with their young children, and the<\/span><\/p>\n

lowest incidences of SIDS are in societies with widespread co-sleeping.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Sounds too easy to be true. According to Wiki, it is: https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Sudden_infant_death_syndrome<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

–<\/p>\n

\n

I wrote Meg and asked if she did not think that people have a<\/span><\/p>\n

tendency to say that things\u2014like marriage\u2014are not all that impor-<\/span><\/p>\n

tant to them if they think that there is a decent chance they won\u2019t<\/span><\/p>\n

happen. Psychologically, it\u2019s tough to get through days if things you<\/span><\/p>\n

desperately want aren\u2019t happening; it seems logical to downplay<\/span><\/p>\n

their importance. So perhaps it can be tough for women to be hon-<\/span><\/p>\n

est with themselves about their own desires.<\/span><\/p>\n

She replied in the af\ufb01rmative:<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

I\u2019d say your point about downplaying goals that seem out of reach<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

is quite valid. The problem is that it\u2019s self-perpetuating; for societal<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

reasons marriage and family become dif\ufb01cult to obtain, thus women<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

deny that they want these things, thus they become even more dif\ufb01-<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

cult to obtain because they\u2019ve been deprioritized.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

See: https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Fox_and_the_Grapes<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

–<\/p>\n

\n

They do not generally understand female-style emotional support.<\/span><\/p>\n

They are used to helping a pal by downplaying his troubles or giv-<\/span><\/p>\n

ing advice, not by sympathetically hearing him out. In one study,<\/span><\/p>\n

98 percent of wives reported that they wanted their husbands to<\/span><\/p>\n

talk more about their thoughts and feelings.17 For men, problems<\/span><\/p>\n

call for advice or action, not talk. When told he should show his<\/span><\/p>\n

wife more affection, one man went home and washed her car.18<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Very common problem in M-F relationships, i think.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

http:\/\/bookos.org\/s\/?q=taking+sex+differences&t=0 This shortish book contains a wealth of information and 100s of citations. Unfortunately, the author has not kept a high standard of citing things, nor does he make it clear when he cites something less reliable. This makes it the case that one cannot just take the points for granted and have to check […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1624,1653,1921],"tags":[1067,1981],"class_list":["post-3953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-evolutionary-psychology","category-psychology","category-sociology","tag-review","tag-sex-differences","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/emilkirkegaard.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3953","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/emilkirkegaard.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/emilkirkegaard.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emilkirkegaard.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emilkirkegaard.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3953"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/emilkirkegaard.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3953\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4381,"href":"https:\/\/emilkirkegaard.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3953\/revisions\/4381"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/emilkirkegaard.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emilkirkegaard.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emilkirkegaard.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}