‘As long as there has been brain science there have been – in retrospect – misguided neurological explanations and justifications of sex inequality.’ Cordelia Fine interviewed in The Psychologist

Posted on 2010/10/28 , tagged as

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The Psychologist this month has a fantastic, lengthy interview with Cordelia Fine about her Delusions of Gender. Here’s the first question and answer:

‘Q: For anyone who thought that the battle of the sexes was over, that any gender inequalities remaining are innate and pretty inevitable, your new book Delusions of Gender is pretty uncomfortable reading. Everything’s not fine.’

‘A: As long as there has been brain science there have been – in retrospect – misguided neurological explanations and justifications of sex inequality. Again and again, these hypotheses eventually find themselves hurled on the scientific scrap heap. But not before they become part of cultural lore, and reinforce social attitudes about men and women in ways that hinder progress towards greater sex equality. It’s still happening. I think that in 50 years’ time we will look back on these early 21st-century debates and claims with the same shocked bemusement with which we now view suggestions that women’s spinal cord and brain stem characteristics leave them ill-equipped for voting.’

Read the full interview here and it’s available to download as a PDF here, too.