Answer: Yes.This question came to mind the other day when I was listening to Wait, Wait... Don't Tell Me on NPR. During this news quiz show, one of the questions involved a test that was conducted as to what woke women up versus what woke men up. What was the number one noise to wake woman up? A baby crying. A baby crying didn't even make the top ten of things that wake men up. Do you think that women are programed by nature to be more alert to a child's needs or do you think that this has been imposed by society.
Even if I was convinced that this was caused by nature, I still wouldn't buy into the whole "women belong in the kitchen" theory. People love to argue for their moral beliefs with the ever beautiful statement: it is just natural. Whether you are talking about gay marriage or women's rights, one can never get away from that statement. But let's really think about all the things that modern homosapiens do that are "unnatural." We get married, that isn't seen any where else in the natural world. We use a toilet, no other animals do that (without human interaction). We eat cooked meat and can control fire. We make art. We use computers. We have complex emotions.
I guess what I am saying is that yes, in nature, women and men are different. But does it really matter?
Answer: No.
"Do you think that women are programed by nature to be more alert to a child's needs or do you think that this has been imposed by society."
ReplyDeleteMaybe. But what if this question were asked to men and women living in a society with reversed gender roles?
When it comes to what wakes someone up, the brain chooses what it does or doesn't let in depending on the environment. For example, if you move to a building next to the train tracks and are awakened by that every morning, eventually you will lose the ability to hear the train in your house unless you focus on it. So attributing this to genetics isn't very accurate. (You could much more easily point to psychological and anatomical differences for natural differences between men and women.)
"But let's really think about all the things that modern homosapiens do that are "unnatural.""
Agreed. And technically, one could take it from another side and argue that everything humans do/create is 100% natural. Everything we make comes from chemical compounds found on earth, and every mental/physical/cultural capacity humans have is possible only as a result of natural selection. Arguing what is or isn't natural is extremely shaky.