Historical perceptions of women's emotional inferiority and gender differences

¶ … Gender and Emotion

Women were perceived inferior to men because they were seen to have fewer emotional capabilities than men did (Shields p.94). This portrayal led to the discrimination of women until today. Scientists were not able to overlook the fact that women and men are similar, and the only difference was in their gender or only biological. There might be differences in the way that men and women perceive things, and this is because of the way a person is raised. I believe that women were misunderstood, and people did not take the time to understand women in the early 19th century. Men wanted to demonstrate their superiority and hey used gender to achieve this superiority. The notion that female emotions were ineffectual ensured that they were overlooked in many aspects and was used to set gender boundaries. Though the article perceives men as being passionate and able to control their emotions, it is women in reality who possess this capability. Men have a problem expressing their emotions, which makes them look like they are in control.

This image demonstrates men are more capable of controlling their emotions than women. The woman in the picture is been consoled by a man. The man is a shown as a strong person compared to the woman. Having control over his emotions, the man can easily offer support and consolation to the woman. The early psychologists believed that women could not control their emotions. For this reason, only men were included as research subjects.

Endocrinology and conceptualization of sex

This picture represents the hormones found in a human body. The picture relates well to Endocrinologists and the Conceptualization of Sex, 1920-1940 article. This is because it demonstrates that male and female are identical in terms of bodily functions and organs apart from the sexual organs. Men have testis and women have ovaries. These organs produce the sex hormones for men and women. Scientists had previously ignored to study the female body. However, this changed and it gave birth to the field of endocrinology. Since men and women have different sex organs, it was initially believed that the sex hormones were also different. The perception was somehow right, but it was established that both men and women could possess sex hormones of each other (Oudshoorn p.172). The image shows that the concept of sex is dualistic only when it comes to organs, but all other areas are similar. The organs that produce the hormones are also different, but this does not mean that men and women are different in terms of bodily functions. The testis and the ovary will secrete the male and female sex hormones respectively. The sex hormones are carried from the organs to the brain by the person's blood, where they are interpreted.