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Sexuality: Biological or
Social?
A look at the social constructs of race, gender, and sexuality, in terms of biological and
genetic science, and the way these constructs can affect modern society.
Written by Marisa B.
Eliot, Lise. "Under the Pink or Blue Blankie." In Pink Brain, Blue Brain: How Small Differences
Grow Into Troublesome Gaps -- And What We Can Do About It, by Lise Eliot, 55-102.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009.
Spanier, Bonnie. "Looking for Difference." In Gender and the Science of Difference: Cultural
Politics of Contemporary Science and Medicine. Ed. Jessica Horowitz, 43-67. New Brunswick:
Rutgers UP, 2011.
There are real and measurable differences between women and men as groups in things like
emotion, empathy, spatial ability (or speed in processing spatial problems), physical activity level,
violence, and interests. These differences begin when children are young, and sociobiologists
have documented many differences across species, which is to say, up and down the
evolutionary ladder. Are these differences determined by biology, or are they socially
constructed?
Gender labeling begins the second an infant exits the womb and enters into this world of gender
stereotypes. The first thing that is determined for a baby is whether it has a penis or vagina (and
this is ignoring what happens when it is an intersex baby, which is a whole complicated issue by
itself). The labeling does not simply end at penis or vagina and male or female. What the sex of
the baby is determined to be is usually automatically related to what its gender should be, and
what kind of things it should be doing in association to the stereotypes of this gender.
In December of 2011 The New York Times published an article titled Should the World of Toys Be
Gender-Free? written by Peggy Orenstein. The article says that Hamleys, Londons version of
F.A.O. Schwartz, got rid of its pink girl and blue boy sections in favor of a gender-neutral store
with red and white signage. The store, which had previously been organized by floors dedicated
to Barbies and action figures, is now organized by the type of toy and interests. In addition to
this, Lego has also come out with a collection called the Friends collection which features pastel
colored blocks aimed at girls. After months of anthropological research, Lego has discovered that
the sexes play differently. Orenstein writes, In order to be gender-fair, todays executives insist,
they have to be gender-specific. Though studies have revealed the importance in the difference
in toy choice in young children, according to Lise Eliot the pre-school age is the age when the
brain is the most malleable and most open to influence on the abilities and roles that traditionally
go with sex. Research tells us that there is a reason why girls will choose dolls (because they
favor role play) and boys will choose blocks (because they favor building). Where, then, did we
get the idea of colors and styles of clothing belonging to one gender or the other? Perhaps the
dressing of infant girls in pink and boys in blue is not what we should be doing after all. Even
when we try to avoid the gender stereotype, others still move it along strongly. For example,
when my sister was a baby my parents went the route of dressing her in yellow, which is
supposed to be a gender neutral color. Many people assumed she was a boy, and when told
otherwise reprimanded my parents and told them that they should be dressing her in pink and in
dresses. What are we telling our children when their views oppose the views of normative
society? I myself identify as female and have always hated the color pink. For most of my
childhood I also despised dresses and things that were considered to be stereotypically female.
By my dislike of things that society tells me should go along with being female, what does that
mean for me? The message I and others in this position receive is that we are not considered
normal. This is not something I believe should be enforced when a child is young and
impressionable. Maybe we should take a hint from Riley, the star of a viral Youtube video in
which she is seen in front of many boxes of pink dolls wondering why girls and boys cannot play
with each others toys.
The panic that comes with a person not adhering to his or her gender stereotype is still
something that shocks and amazes me. While reading an article on intersex babies by Katrina
Karkazis, I noted how she mentions the panic of parents and doctors alike when they see that a
child is intersex and the rush to put them into surgery and have them fixed. There are situations
like this all over the place every single day. I have experienced this in my own life, as well. Back
in high school I cut my hair pretty short. Short hair is something society views as unfeminine, and
if a girl wishes to have short hair then she must be more masculine and therefore a lesbian. I got
called a lesbian more times than I can remember. Because I did not fit the stereotype of a
female, it had to mean that I was something else (not to mention the fact that they were using
lesbian as an insult, which is something that enraged me). This all reminds me of an episode I
watched of the television show What Would You Do, in which John Quinones sets up situations
in real life to gage how people react. This particular episode took place in a toy store. It featured
a father and son shopping and the son either wanting a dress or a doll. The reaction of the
surrounding people astounded me. Other parents would go up to the father and ask him why he
would allow that and tell him that it was not right for a boy to be acting in such way. My jaw
dropped as I saw other parents point this little boy in the direction of the masculine toys behind
his fathers back, their faces proud like they were doing their civic duty by pointing this boy in the
right gender stereotyped direction. There was what was referred to as a pink scare when a J.
Crew advertisement surfaced featuring a little boy with pink painted toe nails. In an article about
the situation Melanie Klein writes, Theres nothing natural about gender. Gender is a social
construct reflecting cultural dictates within a specific historical context and those gendered
prescriptions change as the culture changes. She posts a photo of what looks like a little girl:
long hair, white dress, Mary Janes. But theres a catch: the photo is actually a young Franklin
Delano Roosevelt in 1884, before colors were assigned to gender. In fact, when colors were first
assigned to gender, it was the opposite of what we know now. Pink, a color close to red, was
equated with strength and masculinity. Light blue was a natural sign of femininity, and according
to Orenstein equated with imitations of the Virgin Mary, constancy, and faithfulness. As Klein
writes on the subject, Given that history, it becomes clear that color codes are arbitrary, socially
constructed and have no bearing or impact on ones natural gender or sexual identity. Since the
colors are now reversed, there is no scientific evidence to say why a certain color would belong
to one gender. There exists a whole blog called Pink is for Boys that is devoted to people going
against these color and gender stereotypes.
Bonnie Spanier and Jessica Horowitz have an entire chapter in the book Gender and the
Science of Difference dedicated to the argument of biological determinism vs. social
constructionism. They write that many theories of biological determinism help to further gay
rights, by arguing that being homosexual is natural. They reference Anne Fausto-Sterling and
her work in her book Myths of Gender: Biological Theories about Women and Men, in which she
looks into research claims about difference in brain lateralization and math ability. She found that
many of these claims were proved to be wrong or inadequate scientifically because of either
contradictory evidence, insufficient evidence, or abandonment of theories (45). In looking at the
work of researcher Dennis McFadden, Spanier and Horowitz discover that research is flawed
because it focuses too closely on differences between men and women and not on variance in
individual human behaviors across a population. They reach the conclusion that McFaddens
research is not accountable and that there is no just argument for biological determinism yet.
Lise Eliot, author of Pink Brain Blue Brain provides more information to support social
constructionism. She writes,Sure enough, when scientists look closely and study large numbers
of newborns, they have been able to document a few significant differences between infant boys
and girls. But generally speaking, the differences are few and far between, nothing like what we
see later in childhood (55).
In the chapter entitled Under the Pink or Blue Blankie, Eliot explains what is known about
similarities and differences in boys and girls bodies, brains, skills, and maturation in the first year
of life. She explains how some of the differences are present at birth, while others turn up later
on in life. Eliot writes about how infants are influenced by how parents do not treat boy and girl
babies the same way. The only difference at birth between boys and girls is that boys tend to be
larger. They are heavier and longer and typically have a larger head circumference. It has been
proven true that girls develop and mature faster than boys due to their skeletal system being a
few weeks farther along than a boys at birth. Much of the research done in an attempt to
differentiate the sexes is weak, according to Eliot. Things like sensory difference, motor skills,
language, and social and emotional difference and the research performed within each category
have presented feeble arguments about differences between boys and girls.
What would happen if a child was raised without gender? Research on this subject is still
underway as we look at Storm, a genderless baby from Toronto. Parents Kathy Witterick and
David Stocker made the decision to not tell anyone the sex of their baby and it has since made
headline news. Of course there is resistance and outcry by other parents. Kathy and David
believe that a person should have the freedom to choose his or her gender, and that Storms
story may help to make the world a more progressive place. One of the couples other children, a
six year old named Jazz, is not quite a conformer of gender stereotypes himself. As a boy he
loves pink and wearing dresses, and has been teased for it. This helped influence the decision to
keep Storms sex a secret. This is a family that chooses to challenge gender norms that they feel
society imposes.
In the end, many of the differences between boys and girls that we believed to be biologically
determined are in fact socially constructed. Within the research and experiments, scientists bring
their own socially constructed views and opinions with them, whether they mean to use them or
not. The truth is that there is simply not enough evidence to document scientifically measurable
differences between the sexes. Until we discover more, we will keep reinforcing our gendered
stereotypes and hope our children turn out to be what society considers normal.
Works Cited
Eliot, Lise. Pink Brain, Blue Brain: How Small Differences Grow into Troublesome Gapsand
What We Can Do about It. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009. Print.
Fisher, Jill A. Gender and the Science of Difference: Cultural Politics of Contemporary Science
and Medicine. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers UP, 2011. Print.
Klein, Melanie. "J. Crews Toenail-Painting Ad Causes Pink Scare." Ms. Blog. 13 Apr. 2011.
Web. <http://msmagazine.com>.
Orenstein, Peggy. "Should the World of Toys Be Gender-Free?" The New York Times. 29 Dec.
2011. Web. <http://www.nytimes.com>.
Poisson, Jayme. "The 'genderless Baby' Who Caused a Storm of Controversy in 2011."Toronto
News:. 26 Dec. 2011. Web. <http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1105515--the-genderless-baby-
who-caused-a-storm-of-controversy-in-2011?bn=1>.