Aussie news

Theories that men's and women's brains are wired differently are a 'myth', say experts

Fellow researchers have come out with their scientific findings, supporting the old prejudice that women are not men’s intellectual equals. This is followed by the publishing of books, saying that there are structural differences between men’s and women’s brain. The arguments are as follow.

1. Female brains are better at empathizing while men’s are wired for analyzing the physical world.

2. Women spend most of their lives on a psychological “roller coaster” controlled mainly by fluctuating hormone levels.

3. In Victorian times scientists suggested women thought with a different part of their brain from men. In the 1950s they came up with the idea that women's 'inferior' thinking was controlled by their hormones.

4. Female brain's propensity for understanding others' feelings makes women more suited to caring occupations.

5. Women spend most of their lives in thrall to hormones generated by their monthly cycles, the birth of children and other factors. It is claimed that only when the children leave home are the mommy brain circuits finally free.

6. Women benefited from housework because it boosted their hormone levels.

7. On average men prefer to deal with things, whereas females like to deal with people.

A leading neuroscientist, Professor Gina Rippon has dismissed the “myth” that women’s brains are wired differently from men’s. He sees all such ideas as “patronising nonsense”. According to his point of view, there may be some very small differences between the genders but the similarities are far greater. Throughout history, biological explanations have been used as weapons to explain and maintain social differences. But there is no real evidence that men and women have different brain structures. This is further supported by Dr. Cordelia Fine. She asserted that those old-fashioned findings have produced “a masterpiece of condescension”. Their concern would be on the fear that neuroscience will be used to justify changes in education policy. Such pressures are already developing. In 2008 Vicky Tuck, the headmistress of Cheltenham ladies' college, mentioned that single-sex schools should make a comeback as boys' brains worked differently from girls'.