Misconceptions of Science, Sex, and Gender

Science of Sex and Gender

Midterm Exam About Two Articles

Science is defined as the attainment of knowledge through practice or study. The concerted human effort in understanding better how the natural works using observable physical evidence is science (Chalmers p.4). There are many definitions of science and all point to one thing. Science involves making observations and studying in order to explain natural phenomena's. Without observation and study, it would not be possible to explain in a logical manner the various happenings that take place naturally. The interesting thing about science is the fact different theories can be formulated to explain the same phenomena. The hypothesis a scientist uses will determine the conclusions they make. Science is interesting because it offers people different explanations to why something happens and all the reasons could be logical or truthful. Having different meaning or theories explaining the same phenomena makes science a complicated notion. This is because people might get confused and uncertain of what is correct. When you analyze sex and gender from a scientific point-of-view, there are different reasons why there is a huge difference between males and females. In human anatomy, the differences are clear, but in other animals and plants, this notion is quite complicated.

In human beings, sex and gender have been problematic since time immemorial. According to Shields (p.92), women were previously considered inferior to men due to their gender. There were roles that were primarily for men, and no woman would be allowed to perform these roles. Manliness was associated with strong emotions while women were considered to have ineffectual emotions (Shields p.94). This is quite different from the views presented by Oudshoorn (p.163), who posits that before the 18th century men, women were similar, and the only difference was with their anatomy. Using such information, it is quite clear that it is irrational to gauge a person based on their gender or sexuality. The study of human anatomy brought about different considerations and gave birth to terminologies like heterosexual, bisexual, and homosexuality. Is there any science to explain the notion of sex and gender? The study of sex and gender has been ongoing since the early 18th century. This has been a complex study as Oudshoorn (p.171) posits that male human beings possess female hormones and vice versa.

Sex

Sex is defined in terms of sex hormones by endocrinologists (Oudshoorn p.163). Initially, it was believed that only females could have female sex hormones. However, this concept was contradicted based on the observations of sex hormone functions. This is the underlying reasons why science is complicated. It is clear from this that any phenomena can be contradicted or postulated. In the 1940s, it emerged that females could possess male characteristics and males could possess female characteristics (Oudshoorn p.164). This brought about the idea that it is best to separate masculinity and femininity from male and female. In an attempt to answer the question if there is any notion of sex and gender, this brings further problems because science is forever changing and an explanation suited for today might be challenged tomorrow. Sex has always been a controversial and challenging subject. Science has not made it any easier to speak openly about sex. Since sex involves a person's private parts, it is not easy to speak openly about sex to anyone. Scientists have made it even harder for people to understand or study sex. Attempting to explain the differences between males and females using science is quite difficult and in some societies, it is considered taboo.

The initial interest in sex hormones was not only for scientific reasons, but many pharmaceutical companies had shown interest. This was seen as a means of producing large-scale medications for treating the various female problems (Oudshoorn p.168). There was a material approach to the scientific study, which lead to biochemists joining in the study of sex hormones. This was a good move because they made the discovery that male animals are rich sources for female sex hormones (Oudshoorn p.171). How this is possible, only science can explain. With such a discovery, the problems of studying sex are compounded further. It is quite clear now that defining sex in terms of male and female was problematic, but there are distinctive features that differentiate a man from a woman. Heterosexual hormones was the name coined by the scientists for these hormones. If the scientists were puzzled with the discovery, how about a common person with no knowledge of science? The dualist nature that the scientist had previously held on to was now being discarded, which confirms that science is forever changing and adaptive to new discoveries.

Gender

In early society, there were clear gender divisions. Women were considered inferior to men because of their gender. However, there was no scientific evidence to illustrate or support the notions that women were inferior. The use of popular cultural forums ensured that these cultural notions were seamlessly integrated into scientific notions. The idea that females were deficient was engraved in society in the early times, but there were political needs that led to the redefining of females during the 19th century. Previously man was the central authority in public and women were not allowed to speak in public. Gender inequality has been a major concern and egoistic men who prefer to look down on women have perpetrated it. Feminine reasoning capabilities were mainly considered with specifics, and it is for this reason that they were better placed to handle observational science (Shields p.97). In society, females are considered suitable for household chores and roles. This is because such work features equanimity and emotional temperance.

Many scientists did not concern themselves with the intellectual and emotional attributes of women (Shields p.99). They were only concerned with women because their feminine character allowed them to distinguish qualities to demonstrate human form evolution. The comparisons were not hypothesis for testing or arguments. Psychology was the science employed in an attempt to understand the emotional disparity between the two genders. Masculine meant that the person possess traits that allowed them to be considered a male and their roles were not associated with household chores. Masculinity meant that the person had more control over their emotions, and any outburst could be explained. This was quite different from femininity where outbursts were considered as irrational. In the early centuries, especially British societies, any scientific research was carried out using men and there was no consideration of women.