Do you recognize there are SOME differences between the brains of females and males (generally speaking)?

Question

In terms of responses to social and sexual stimuli, the ability to perform certain tasks etc. Please do not evade the question by pointing out that there is no such thing as a typical female or male brain - that goes without saying. But, OVERALL, there either exists differences between the sexes or there does not.

yowza: I remember watching that series - it was very good.

Because I am Arrogant: I have a suspicion that your source is not entirely reliable...

jonmcn49: I've been pleasantly surprised so far. Thank you for supporting my post the other day :-).

First of all note that the APA doesn't necessarily support Janet Shibley Hyde's particular thesis as you imply. My question was about brains and so the relevant field is neuroscience not psychology. This is evident in that the author examines such things as "psychological well-being". She does conduct some relevant tests it seems, to do with "cognitive abilities" and "verbal and non-verbal communication". I'm not sure what these "cognitive abilities" are but men have been shown to perform better in spatial thinking. Likewise, women ought to have performed better on her communications tests. It appears though that "gender differences accounted for either zero or a very small effect". Of course "very small effect" is a vague phrase, but if she is suggesting that differences in cognitive functions are basically non-existent then that is highly controversial. The simple fact is that there IS a scientific consensus that there are some differences -
tests have repeatedly shown that men's

and women's brains work differently when performing set tasks, especially those to do with emotion and memory, and spatial thinking. The purpose of her article is a moralistic one and so we should therefore be suspicious of her anamolous results.

Understand that I am not being antagonistic in asking this question - I am a feminist, and want the movement to be taken seriously. In order for that to happen we surely cannot be dismissive of simple scientific facts. Thankfully, most people here willingly accept that there are some differences, but it is clear that some people are worried about the implications of men's and women's brains being different in architecture and function. Science is on our side - it has been repeatedly shown that there is no difference in overall intelligence. Why should it matter if females perform somewhat better at a particular task? Hyde's primary purpose is to show that the popular media's conception of gender difference is damaging to society.

Fine! But just because men might be better OVERALL at systemising activities does not women mean that women can't be good at them. Recognizing these OVERALL differences does not lead to discrimination, as we still understand that every INDIVIDUAL brain is different. Problems occur when people believe that these differences are absolute - that the sheer complexity of human brains can be broken down to a crude dichotomy. But Hyde's evidence (not her subsequent analysis) seems equally dishonest and can only contribute to ignorance.

I apologize for my convoluted and broken prose but I'm not in the best condition at the moment.

These comments are obviously for Graymalkin. Btw, you appear similar to Baba Yaga - perhaps you're attempting to evade your impersonators? Of course, they can always copy your "Graymalkin" account so it might be better to have a unique avatar which would be harder to impersonate. Suffice to say, this advice is irrelevant if you're not Baba Yaga.

Answer 1

Yes, of course there are SOME differences.
The argument comes about when discussing *how* these differences manifest in behavior and ability. This where social construction theory (well, SOMEBODY had to bring it up! lol) is introduced, and why we cannot pinpoint precisely where nature ends and nurture begins to take over.

Answer 2

With many excellent answers already preceding, I will merely chime in with a few ancillary thoughts. To me the natural follow up question would be, if there are differences between the human male and female heart? What might be the mean temperature of each? Returning to the brain, rather than agonize over differences, I wonder what the similarities between the two brains are? Is there common ground, and can a little wet ware portend gender reconciliation? Perhaps not! As long as the focus is on a bunch of cells, dendrites, and synapses, such reductionism will never do justice to the human condition nor lead us in a direction of learning to get along rather than look, what we can obtain from one another in the way of advantages and favors. Of course, some people swear they have to and, if need be, can function on half a brain cell. So that should prove right there that the brain as a whole is amply redundant and prepared for vast overkill. Male and female difference are thus a relatively mute point. It also means that likely even the lonely half cell will have to keep looking for its compliment, and that will keep the question of gender alive and well long after we are completely brain dead. Supposedly by the way, brain death is actually the lofty aim, whenever male and female really get together. It is one way at least to end this painful question, and do so oh so blissfully. If only the same could be said for the heart and all the concomitant feelings involved... (sigh)

Answer 3

Yes, there are. Watch out, though.

The human brain is a very complex mechanism, and most simply do not know what they are talking about.

There are a LOT of flawed studies out there.

There are quite a few male superiority studies, but for anyone with any REAL knowledge of the brain, you can read and see their false methodology.

And NO, LOL, big heads do not mean anything.

I know that women have more connectivity beetween the sides of their brain than men. (This simply means they are better at multy-tasking)

Answer 4

You got off pretty light, overall and so far. Though, the question will be evaded by those who are ideologically driven, politically correct and do not understand a normal curve distribution of continuous traits. Of course, differences exists and only the delusional could think other wise. By that remark, delusional, I mean people who are going to say that the difference is " socially constructed ".

Answer 5

Yes, indeed. There has been quite a bit of research done on this. Empathy, for example, is a distinctly female trait, while males are better at hand/eye coordination. The link below provides a survey that tells you what your brain-sex is in several different areas.

Answer 6

Yes, there are differences.
These differences will mean that the different sexes are naturally better at different things.
Of course, these skill can also be attained through practice.

The BBC have an online test to tell you whether your brain is predominantly male of female:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/sex/add_user.shtml?users=1

It identified me as significantly male.

Answer 7

While I do agree that many people may have just one distinct "brain gender" there are also alot of people like me out there that are a fusion of the two. And I agree with some of the previous answers that there are flaws in some scientific research.

Answer 8

YES. It becomes more evident after marriage...sometimes I'm really confused by my husbands responses to something that i would consider normal. But yes, absolutly there's a huge difference.

Answer 9

When my mother was in school in Germany back in the 60s, girls were not allowed in take advanced math classes, because it was believed that their brains were not capable of it.

It may be interesting to discuss generalizations about how men and women think, but the moment you take it as some kind of universal fact it's called discrimination.

Answer 10

Generally speaking, of course I do. But I tend to view these sorts of things on an individual basis.