Practice RR 8.30

Here's a nice RR (4/4)!

• She uses quotation very nicely and effectively.  The instructions originally said one quoted sentence per page, but let's make it one per answer, at the very most. Sometimes finding the perfect quote is actually a valuable exercise and this student has found the perfect quote to use for each answer.
• Answer 2 is certainly "responsive" (which is all that's required), but Churchland also discusses how male brains make males more aggressive on average.

***

1)    What is the essence of the biological kinds male and female according to Dawkins?

Dawkins claims that the essence of male and female lies in the size and number of sex cells. The sex cells of males are “much smaller and more numerous than the gametes of the female” (Dawkins 141). This difference exists in all forms of life and serves as a good indicator of male or female. 

In organisms that do not have distinguishable sexes (isogamy), all organisms have the same type of gametes. Since the gametes do not differ and there is no difference of sexes, isogametes further prove that the difference in gametes is the essence of male and female. 

2)    How are male and female brains different from each other, according to Churchland?

Churchland describes how sex hormones interact with the brain according to gender. A surge of testosterone “masculinizes the brain by altering the number of neurons in very specific areas that mainly concern reproductive behavior” (Churchland 132). In contrast, the absence of a testosterone surge feminizes the brain.

Male brains and female brains also differ in the size of hypothalamic regions that regulate sexual behavior and the release of dopamine which affect the female menstrual cycle. Females also have a stronger connection between the hypothalamus and amygdala which makes them more cautious than males.

3)    What is Fine’s attitude toward the idea that higher in utero testosterone creates a distinctive male brain?

Fine disapproves of the hypothesis that higher testosterone creates a male brain. He claims this portrayal “is just new advertising copy for the old stereotype of females as submissive, emotional, oversensitive gossips…[and] are designed for feminine skills rather than…masculine pursuits” (Fine 100).

In terms of rat research that shows how male rats that are castrated at birth are similar to female rats, he describes how we cannot readily assume that what is true of rats and birds is also true for humans because all mammals are different.

Scientific research also does not have definitive proof that the differences in brain structures translates to differences in behavior. The hypothesis is not easy to test and thus should not be readily accepted.