Unmaking the myths of our gendered minds

From risk taking to competitiveness, we need to take an axe to powerful myths

about sex differences, argues Cordelia Fine in her book Testosterone Rex
By Mel Rumble, 1 March 2017
ONE of the best things about science is its ability to correct itself, spot flaws, poor evidence and
bad claims, track the myths they spawn to their roots and axe them. This process is vital,
especially in areas such as race, IQ and gender, where false steps derail fields for years.
Take fruit fly experiments by British biologist Angus Bateman in the 1940s. These ended up
underpinning many claims about evolved psychological differences between the sexes. One such
was a theory by evolutionary biologist Robert Trivers, which claimed a bigger parental
investment by females than males. Claims such as these fueled myths such as men being more
competitive or bigger risk-takers than women.
Psychologist Cordelia Fine questions these myths. In her new book, Testosterone Rex, she tackles
the biggest myth of all: that every difference can be traced to testosterone. This she labels the
Testosterone Rex world view, where differences are touted as natural rather than cultural. But if
we look harder at the evidence, it doesnt stack up, says Fine.
Take risk-taking. Girls/women can and do take risks and compete to the same degree as
boys/men, says Fine. Seeing sex differences turns out to depend on what you ask women to
compete at and which women you ask. So women are more likely to compete within more
neutral or feminine competitive contexts such as dancing, verbal ability or fashion knowledge.
And cultural background and level of economic development seem linked with greater
competitiveness; for example, Han Chinese or Armenian girls are as competitive as their male
counterparts.
Fine doesnt deny testosterones effects on brains, bodies and behaviour, but it is neither king
nor kingmaker. Testosterone isnt the potent, hormonal essence of competitive, risk-taking
masculinity we assume it to be, she says: it is just part of a complex bio-cultural mix.

Fine shows how new studies can upend earlier research by unearthing those confirmation biases
on which many myths of sex differences precariously perch. Back with Batemans fruit flies, Fine
shows his data had been biased towards counting the offspring of males, in part due to less
sophisticated methods used in the 1940s, but also because people tend to look for what they
want to find without realising it.

Whether or not you see sex differences in risk taking turns out to depend on
what you ask and who
Aside from research design biases, Fine also notes how social constructions of gender shape the
situations people encounter, and their subjective meaning. She throws out a challenge: Were
used to thinking of testosterone as a cause of gender what if the direction of that familiar
pathway also needs to be reversed?
To answer, Fine lays out some of the more recent research. Take University of Illinois psychologist
Dov Cohen and his colleagues, who showed how male testosterone levels can increase in
reaction to a small challenge to status. Then there is the behavioural endocrinologist Richard
Francis and his colleagues and their work on cichlid fish, which shows how social events regulate
the gonads. Or recent findings by Marie-Louise Healy and her colleagues at St Jamess Hospital,
Dublin, that one in six elite male athletes have testosterone levels below the normal reference
range.
Another key tenet of the Testosterone Rex world view is the emphasis on differences between
male and female thinking and behaviour. Instead, Fine stresses the similarities. Differences, for
her, are idiosyncratic mixes of masculine and feminine characteristics and gendered
qualities. It may be that some differences compensate for others, and end up making the sexes
similar, not different.
Ultimately, Fine leaves us clear that Testosterone Rexs old stories are unjustified. What happens
next is a question for our values, not science, says Fine, arguing for a world where cultural and
gender norms sit with evolution, genetics and hormones to take account of all the influences.
Then comes the hard work, as she calls on us to imagine the society we want to create. But no
fruit flies this time.
https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg23331151-200-unmaking-the-myths-of-our-gendered-minds/