ANTHR310 Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: Biological Determinism, Determinism, Tabula Rasa
28 Sep 2016
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Lecture 11 // September 28, 2016
Nature or Nurture?
Or: What’s the relationship between science, biology, socialization, sex, and
gender?
Introduction
What is a behavior that is more attributable to men?
oPhysical aggression
oInterruptions
Men interrupt far more often than women
Men are more likely to interrupt other men than women are to interrupt other women
Men also usually don’t see it as interrupting, they see it as “throwing in my 2 cents and go on”
Looking at infants having temper tantrums – both girls and boys are likely to have temper tantrums over the same stimuli
Mascia-Lees Text
She doesn’t believe that it is completely biological, but she doesn’t quite solidify a stance on what exactly causes differences
“Well, no one has proven that there are clear, universal differences between men and women so clearly there aren’t any differences
between men and women”
She doesn’t like to take a complete “social constructivism” stance
The Debate
Philosophical Debate: Are our basic concepts innate (a priori) or derived through experience (a posteriori, empirical)?
Cultural Debate: Are men and women by nature different, or do they learn to be different?
oThrough myths such as the story of “Adam and Eve” – women are emotional, susceptible to temptation
Science: “Biological determinism” vs. “social constructivism”
oBiological Determinism: Biological differences predetermine men and women to have different roles and attributes
oSocial Constructivism: We’re a blank slate, and our gender identity, and roles are entirely constructed by society
The same debate about the “nature” of sex differences paralleled debate about “race”
During the 19th century, scientists shifted from seeing some races are merely culturally inferior to seeing them as
biologically/natural inferior
Anthropology: The reality is complex, can’t be reduced to an either/or explanation
oBiology is always experiences in cultural terms – culture is always experienced in physical bodies
Naturalizing Power
The idea of natural differences between genders and races has traditionally served the interests of “superior” upper-class white males
It’s hard to identify traits that universally differentiate males from females
Alleged differences in aptitude and personality are impossible to separate from culture, environment
“I don’t have the ____ gene”
Popular culture treats everything as the product of “genes”, although the relationships between genes and behavior has never been
conclusively shown
If one group has a higher incidence of a trait, does that make the group distinct?
oMight we find even larger differences between members of the same group from different backgrounds?
Ok, so differences aren’t biological – they must be totally cultural, right?
Its not so simple
oObviously, our behaviors depend on genders but we don’t have firm evidence of linking behavioral differences of
genes/hormones
oBut we have lots of evidence of culture shaping gender behavior, and we have lots of evidence that biology has been used to
justify stereotypes
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Document Summary
What is a behavior that is more attributable to men: physical aggression, interruptions. Men interrupt far more often than women. Men are more likely to interrupt other men than women are to interrupt other women. Men also usually don"t see it as interrupting, they see it as throwing in my 2 cents and go on . Looking at infants having temper tantrums both girls and boys are likely to have temper tantrums over the same stimuli. She doesn"t believe that it is completely biological, but she doesn"t quite solidify a stance on what exactly causes differences. Well, no one has proven that there are clear, universal differences between men and women so clearly there aren"t any differences between men and women . She doesn"t like to take a complete social constructivism stance.
