Same Difference

This is in reply to a discussion posted on the Facebook group CBE Houston. Link to that discussion is Are girls that much different than boys in behavior? Discuss....

Wow, Aaron. I agree, you seem to have put an awful lot of thought and effort into your comment. Nevertheless, I must disagree with your conclusions, and yours, Celina. @GeraldFord, I appreciate your bringing up the topic of neuroplasticity, as I think it's extremely germane to this whole discussion. I debated whether to post what I did, as I knew it might stir up a virtual hornet's nest of  disagreement, but I have been silent for a long, a very long time now, and I believe it's more than time to speak up, so I did.

To answer the questions (as briefly as I can, not an easy task for me) - it is both. That is, my views on this topic began as suspicion, progressed to opinion, but are not now mere unsupported opinion. Rather they are predicated upon a lifetime of grief, suffering, questioning, searching, study, prayer, more study, more prayer, answers, research, revelation -- and understanding at last, so that when I make a comment as I did here, it is not shallow nor flip, but represents many years, decades of thought and deep searching. I don't have time nor space here to write an autobiography, but I will unequivocally state that my opinions now, on this topic, are informed by what I believe is direct insight and revelation of the Holy Spirit, undergirded by personal experience, observation, and by increasing evidence of scientific investigation and solid research.

Stereotypes are so hard to overcome. And I never asked nor wanted to be in the position of some kind of trailblazer or pioneer. Yet I know how some of the early abolitionists must have felt, or even those in the last century working against slavery and the Jim Crow laws following the emancipation of the slaves, trying to convince people there was no intrinsic difference between black people and white. To this day, there are people who will argue until they fairly expire that the races simply have innate differences that can't be denied, although of course we now know that isn't true.

In the same way, I know many people think and will argue otherwise, but it is actually not "proven science" that there are any intrinsic non-biological differences between people attributable solely to gender, anymore than it was "proven science" a generation ago that there were significant non-biological differences between the races.

Interestingly enough, I've noticed that those identifying themselves as egalitarians who argue most vehemently in favor of recognizing some kind of innate gender differences are often those who either fit the traditional gender stereotypes themselves, or just happen to like the romantic notions of those stereotypes and want to preserve them, while at the same time wanting to eliminate the inevitable results of believing in those intrinsic differences, which of course include hierarchies based on supposedly inherent traits. But that's like trying to have the cake and eat it too.

With ongoing research, particularly in the field of neuroplasticity, which @GeraldFord alludes to in his comment, there actually are increasing numbers of better designed studies coming out that do disprove what has previously been taken for granted to be "science." Prior studies didn't actually measure innate differences at all, but the rather the results of expectations, cultural conditioning and socialization, which does indeed begin before birth, particularly when, as now, parents may know the gender of their child before s/he is even born.

New research into neuroplasticity even questions the conclusions of studies on supposed anatomical differences in the brains of males and females as it is now known that behavior can indeed influence brain structure and activity, as @GeraldFord mentioned, so brain differences previously thought immutable may now be legitimately questioned as results of culturally constrained behavior leading to neurological changes. The good news is that what was changed once, may be changed again.

This subject could (and has) fill books, already written and waiting to be written. I've thought of writing one myself. And as a professional internet researcher, I absolutely revel in references, so I'll list a few in case anyone would like to read them. Trying to limit myself here!

PSYCHOLOGICAL/MENTAL/EMOTIONAL

No gender differences in math performance

"... no evidence for gender differences in performance on exams on pen-and-paper or computer-based exams"

"... gender differences in beneficent behavior ... We find no evidence for gender differences in generosity"

"... gender does not make a difference in the leadership behavior of 5-Star hotel managers."  

BIOLOGICAL/PHYSICAL/PERFORMANCE

Joint implants: "What difference does gender make ... Study finds no difference between gender-specific and standard femoral implants"

Piloting: "After adjusting for variables included in the model, accident rates of males and females were not significantly different. These findings suggest that neither males nor females are a safer pilot group."

Motorcycle riding: "The Gender Difference Makes No Difference"

"Female Soldier proves dominant in hand-to-hand combat"

GENERAL

Review: "Same Difference: How Gender Myths Are Hurting Our Relationships, Our Children, and Our Jobs"

"Think Again: Men and Women Share Cognitive Skills:" "... At the University of Wisconsin, Janet Shibley Hyde has compiled meta-analytical studies on this topic for more than 10 years. By using this approach, which aggregates research findings from many studies, Hyde has boiled down hundreds of inquiries into one simple conclusion: The sexes are more the same than they are different." (if link doesn't work, just search on "think again" with the quotation marks and it will come up)

"Delusions of Gender," "... takes aim at the idea that male brains and female brains are 'wired differently,' leading men and women to act in a manner consistent with decades-old gender stereotypes."

http://www.salon.com/2010/09/07/sexism_neuroscience_interview/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/10/AR2010091002678.html

"The Brain That Changes Itself:" ... "The discovery of neuroplasticity, that our thoughts can change the structure and function of our brains, even into old age, is the most important breakthrough in our understanding of the brain in four hundred years."l

There are lots more.

(Just to be clear, my opinion, and this is opinion because at this time there are no scientific proofs of this, only my clear conviction after much prayer and seeking God, that the biological differences between men and women are, far from being evidence that they are different kinds or species of beings, rather designed primarily for a two-fold purpose: to cement the conjugal relationship between a husband and wife through the act of sexual union, and to provide "Godly offspring" (Malachi 2:15) for God, that is, reproduction. I believe it's best when both purposes are fulfilled, but it's still within God's design if only one is, such as when a couple is barren. I further believe that both men and women may fulfill God's individual purpose for them without making use of this biological difference. But I'm not going to say anything more on that just now. Leave that discussion for another time. I'm just posting it to clarify where I stand on biological differences.)

Mabel posted a challenge here a few months back asking anyone to come up with even one non-biological trait that was true of all members of one gender but not the other. No one could give even one. Quite a few people opined that certainly biology must influence psychology, but when pressed couldn't provide even one specific example of a non-biological gender-mandated trait. I'll bet no one still can.

Sure there can be averages. But averages do not make a rule, and in this case when there are average non-biological differences between men and women it is the result of the majority buying into the myth that there are differences. But when there are many exceptions to any so-called rule, there is in fact no rule. Such is the case with gender. 

And there are many, many exceptions to the notions of "feminine" or "masculine." so many in fact that there is no rule that all males or all females have any specific psychological, mental, character or personality traits or characteristics that pertain only to their gender and not the other. "Masculinity" and "femininity" are entirely manmade myths, just as Jim Crow represented a racial myth. Differences between people are individual only, not determined by gender. And even biology is fluid, or there would be no androgynous or intersex people. Did God make a mistake when He created them?

Food for thought: if we celebrated individuality instead of emphasizing gender differences, what might become of the tragic people we see who suffer so much mental and emotional anguish, many eventually mutilating their bodies based on the false idea that they were somehow put into the wrong one? What if they were allowed, no encouraged to express their real selves in the body in which they were born? What if the world no more taught (and tried to enforce) what is "feminine" or "masculine" and instead allowed people to just be who they are?

It's time we get over emphasizing supposed differences. I don't want to play silly gender games, nor gather together only with my own gender because the other one is so "different." It's not. Women really can talk to men, and men to women about personal things, and understand each other. I know. I've done and do it. But others won't know that until they try, pushing past the initial discomfort to the place of finding that we really are all alike after all. As long as we perpetuate the myth that we can't understand each other because of our respective genders, and refuse to try, that long will we continue to be divided instead of coming together in unity. And ultimately unity is what Jesus Himself desired for His people, what He prayed for to His father. And that is the whole point. Unity. Not division. Not difference. Not divisiveness. Unity.