TOPIC: Are human male and female brains anatomically different and, therefore, produce naturally different performances?
No.
Simple, right?
One would assume this topic would be a harmless and stress-free discussion for any dinner party, but unfortunately it is not a subject safely broached. Why? Two words: genderization and socialization.
Anatomically, male and female brains are not structurally or functionally dissimilar (with individual parts and sections varying among any single person in the way facial features and body structures vary). So why does the belief men and women inherently “think” and “act” differently permeate our society? People simply need to categorize and label everything around them in order to make sense of their surroundings; however, if this subject is attacked on a strictly scientific basis, not one measurable or significant difference exists between male and female brains and their performances.
Interestingly, if we would put two brains on a table (one male and one female), experts would struggle with physically identifying either of them as male or female (success measured on a guess). Add two more brains, identification becomes extremely harder. Add two more brains, identification becomes nearly impossible. As for measured brain activity, nerve bursts or sections lighting up (sorry, I do not know the technical terms), the brain does not begin to demonstrate brain-activity sex differences until around thirteen-years-old. Huh, I wonder why this phenomenon occurs?
Brain-activity depends on two previously mentioned aspects of a person’s life: genderization and socialization.
Genderization is when society bestows or assigns pre-conceived masculine or feminine qualities to aspects of a general culture.
Socialization is the lifelong process of inheriting and disseminating norms, customs, values, and ideologies, providing an individual with the skills and habits necessary for participating within their own society.
As a brain develops, whether male or female, it begins to form based on outside influence as much as our vocal chords develop from the sounds we hear uttered around us while we are learning to speak. If a young male or female consistently hears certain behaviors, chosen speech, products, activities, or careers are meant for their sex, they grow and develop believing these propagated views as truths. Similarly to how an American child born and in Australia will develop Australian speech patterns, or vice-versa, male and female brains develop the same ideologies as their environment, and, in adulthood, causes the mirage male and female brains are inherently different.
So if male and female brains are not anatomically different, why do people believe male and female brains actually perform, or “think” and “act,” differently?
Seriously, I have no idea.
Below are some articles from more reputable sources, not truly academic sources, but I figured these would function better for the purpose of this post:
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