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"Womenarenotequaltomentheyaresuperiorinmanyways,andinmostwaysthat
willcountinthefuture.Itisnotjustamatterofcultureorupbringing.Itisamatterof
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chromosomes,genes,hormones,andnervecircuits.Itisnotmainlybecauseofhow
experienceshapeswomen,butbecauseofintrinsicdifferencesinthebodyandthe
brain."

It'snoteverydaymyjawdropswhenreadingtheChronicleReview,asectionofThe
ChronicleofHigherEducation.ButdropitdidwhenIreadtheopeningparagraph,
above,of"TheEndofMaleSupremacy"byEmoryUniversityanthropologistMelvin
Konner,publishedonApril3.
Konner'sarticle,whichisadaptedfromhisnewbook,WomenAfterAll:Sex,
Evolution,andtheEndofMaleSupremacy,sitsinconflictwiththreecentral
conclusionsthatIimparttomyanthropologystudents:Womenandmenaremore
alikeintheirbehaviorthantheyaredifferentsexdifferencesthatdoexistarisein
largepartfromvariationinhowchildrenareraisedandotherexperiencesofliving
andworking,attestingtothemagnificentplasticityofthehumanbrainandnogroup
ofpeople,regardlessofgenderidentification(I'mnofanofanoversimplifiedmalevs.
femalebinary)isbiologicallysuperiortoanyother.
Thoseconclusionsemergefrombooks,suchasneuroscientistEliseEliot'sPinkBrain
BlueBrain,thatinsistthetinysexdifferencespresentatbirtharemagnifiedthrough
socialization.
Konner,evenwhileaffirmingthatnotallmenareviolentandnotallwomenare
nurturing,fearlesslyadvanceshiswomen'ssuperioritythesis.Malenessis"abirth
defect,"hedeclares.
CurioustoengagedirectlywithKonner,lastweekIsenthimquestionsbyemailandhe
kindlyreplied.Hereisourexchange:
Couldyououtlinewhatyouconsidertobethemostsignificantevidence
thatwomenaresuperiortomenbecauseof"intrinsicdifferencesinthe
bodyandthebrain"?
"Recentbrainimagingstudiesshowthatapartofthebrainthathelpsproduce
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violence,calledtheamygdala,islargerinmenthaninwomen.Also,thefrontalcortex
(frontallobes),whichhelptoregulateimpulsescomingfromtheamygdala,is(are)
moreactiveinwomen.Mountingevidencesupportstheclaimthatmaleandfemale
brainsaredifferentinmanyspecies,includingus,partlybecauseofandrogenizing
(masculinizing)influencesoftestosteroneonthe(anterior)hypothalamus,amygdala,
andotherpartsofthebraininvolvedinsexandviolence.
"Geneticevidencealsosuggeststhatselectionforaggressiveandhypersexualtraitshas
beenstronginatleastpartsofourspeciesinthehumanpast.Roughlyoneintwelve
meninCentralAsiahasaYchromosomesignatureconsistentwithdescentfroma
singlemanwholivedatthetimeofGenghisKhan.Somethingsimilaristrueof
Ireland,harkingbacktotheera(theMiddleAges)whenthatislandwasthoroughly
dominatedbywarringtribes."
Howdoyourespondtotheview,or,maybemorehonestlyput,the
complaint,thatinattemptingtosupportwomen,youareessentially
erasingwomen'sagencybyreducingthem(orIshouldsay"us")tobodies
andbrains?
"Ifreducingbehaviortothebrainiserasingagency,thennoneofushasagency.Every
knowledgeablepersonsinceHippocrateshaslocatedourthoughts,emotions,and
feelingsinthebrain.Agencyissomethingsubjectivethateverypersonhas.Ithinkthat
usingbrainscience(orevolutionforthatmatter)toargueagainstagencyisfoolish."
Asawomanandafeminist,Iwincedwhenreadingyourequating
"maleness"with"abirthdefect,""adisorder"and"androgenpoisoning."
Doesn'tthislanguagedomoreharmthangood,inthatitdescribes
negativelyanentiregroupofpeopleinanunnuanced,stereotypedway?
"Youarenotthefirstpersontowinceatthat,butmanyothers,mainlybutnotonly
women,havesmiled.WouldyouobjectifIsaid'whitesarebadbecausetheyoppress
blacks,'or'AnglosarebadbecausetheyoppressLatinos,'or'richpeoplearebad
becausetheyoppressthepoor'?Howcomeafter12millenniaofoppressionofwomen
bymen,Ican'tsaymenarebadfordoingthat?
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"Inmyview,wearelivinginatimewhenacorrectiveissorelyneeded.Althoughinthe
articleandthebookIamcarefultosay'notallmen'arebad,itisstilltruethat'yesall
women'havetofearthemany,manybadones.Andunliketheracial,ethnic,orclass
categories,thedifferencebetweenmenandwomenissubstantialandbiological.I'm
sorryifsomepeopledon'tlikethat,butit'strue.
"AsElizabethCadyStantonsaidin1869,'thedifferenceinmanandwoman'isthe
mostimportantreasonwhywomenmustfullyparticipateinpubliclife.Thatspeech,
whichIquoteextensivelyfrominWomenAfterAll,isastunningindictmentofmen
andtheiregregiousimpactonhistory,farstrongerthananythingIsayagainstmen
myself.Andherstatementsleddirectlytowomen'ssuffrage."
Youstatewithconfidenceandoptimismthat"Millennialmaledominance
isabouttoend."Youtakecaretoextendthatpredictioncrossculturally:
"Eveninthepoorestlands,theincreasingavailabilityofwomen's
suffrage,healthservices,microloans,andsavingprogramsisgivingthem
controlovertheirdestinies."Howdowesquarethiswithwhatweknowis
happeningtowomeninnumerousplaces,includingbutnotlimitedto
placesthatfityour"poorestlands"descriptor:genderbasedviolence
rapeandotherphysicalandemotionaltraumas?
"Paradoxically,thesmallminorityofmeninISIS,BokoHaram,andthelikeactually
tellusmorethanallthebooksintheworldaboutwhatmenarelikeandwhatthey
havedonetowomen(andbytheway,toeachother)throughmostofhistory.Theyare
throwbacks,butinstructiveones.Theyarepartofaterrifiedlashingoutbymen
againsttheinevitabilityofwomen'srights.Theyarerepresentativesofthedominant
menofthepastwhocouldnotstandtheideaofwomenbeingequal.
"Themajortrendsinthedevelopingworldareagainstthem,andtheyknowit.Some
mencan'tadjust.LookatAfghanistan,wherealmostnogirlswenttoschool15years
agoundertheTaliban,anotherthrowback.TodaythevastmajorityofAfghangirlsare
inschool.TheyoungestpersonevertowintheNobelPrizewasMalalaYousafzai,the
Pakistanigirlwhopromotedgirls'education.Menlikethattriedtokillher,butthey
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onlystrengthenedherandhercause."
Inyourownjudgment,whatisthemostimportantcontributionyour
articleandbookmaketounderstandinggenderpatternsinoursociety
today?
"Attheriskofhyperbole,Itriedtohighlightthegrowingevidencethatmenand
womenarefundamentally,biologicallydifferentinwaysthataffectbehaviorand
thatthedifferencefavorswomen,notmen,formostofthethingsthatwillmatterin
thefuture.Ibelievethatthemyththatthereisnosuchfundamentaldifferencenot
onlyfliesinthefaceofthefactsofevolution,genetics,hormones,brainscience,
psychology,andcrossculturalstudies,butitactuallyhurtsthefeministcause.I
wantedtogivemythreedaughters,andmanymoreotherdaughters,aswellastheir
maleallies,anarsenalofknowledgeaboutthesefactswithwhichtofightthegood
fightforwomen'srightsgoingforward."
Weareleft,then,withduelingperspectivesfromscientistsonsexdifferences.Konner
iscertainlynotaloneininsistingthattheyarereal.Eliotisnotaloneininsisting,
instead,thattheyarelargelyexplicablebycultureandsocialization.
Thisdebatearoundthescientificevidenceandhowtointerpretitisnotgoingto
vanishbecauseKonnerwrites"I'msorry,butit'strue"aboutbiologicalsexdifferences.
ThelanguageKonnerusestomakehiscasestrikesmeasproblematic:Itwrongly
makeswomenouttobeprimarilyaboutsomesetof(supposedly)biological
characteristicscalledfemaleness,andmenprimarilyaboutsomesetof(supposedly)
biologicalcharacteristicscalledmaleness.
Andbytheway,IwouldobjectifKonnerhadsaid:"Whitesarebadbecausethey
oppressblacks."Iendorseanalternativestatement:"Whiteswhooppressblacksare
bad."Thedistinctionissignificantandappliesequallytomen'streatmentofwomen.
I'mgoingtotakeastabatthequestionposedintheheadlinetothispost.Isitsexistto
saythatwomenaresuperiortomen?Yes,inawaythathurtsmenandwomen.

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BarbaraJ.King,ananthropologyprofessorattheCollegeofWilliamandMary,
oftenwritesabouthumanevolution,primatebehaviorandthecognitionand
emotionofanimals.Barbara'smostrecentbookonanimalswasreleasedin
paperbackinApril.YoucankeepupwithwhatsheisthinkingonTwitter:
@bjkingape.

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