Biological theory

The argument

Proponents of the biological theory hold that the differences conventionally described as gender differences originate in the body rather than in upbringing, and they point to two kinds of physical evidence. The first is hormonal. Different hormone levels are said to cause differences between the male and female sexes, with testosterone the most frequently cited example. On this account testosterone can increase the incidence of behaviours including aggression, competitiveness and sex drive. The argument that this supports is causal rather than correlational: because the hormone is present in differing quantities and because its presence is associated with those dispositions, the dispositions are taken to follow from a chemical difference that precedes any social instruction about how men and women should behave. The second is neurological. Proponents report that gender differences have been found in the cerebral hemispheres of the brain, and they treat these structural differences as the source of the varying skill abilities observed among men and women. The division they describe is specific: on this view the neurological differences cause women to excel in language skills, fine motor skills and emotional control, while men excel in spatial skills, logical reasoning and mathematics. The pattern is presented as something that follows from how the brain is organised rather than from what each group is encouraged to practise. Together the two strands form the theory's central claim. If dispositions such as aggression and competitiveness track hormone levels, and if aptitudes such as language and spatial reasoning track differences in brain structure, then the traits that distinguish men and women are already established by physiology before socialisation begins. On that reasoning nurture may modulate these traits but cannot be their origin, and gender is determined by biological factors.

Context

The biological approach suggests there is no distinction between sex & gender, thus biological sex creates gendered behavior.

Premises

Counter-arguments

The counter argument is not to completely refute that hormones and biology play a role in human behavior, but instead to argue the role is so minimal, that for all pragmatic purposes it can be regarded as inconsequential. Any behavioral differences among genders are classed as socially constructed; an invention of cultural programming. In refutation of existing contradictory scientific evidence, it is argued that to remove existing cultural and societal programming during academic research is very difficult, and existing efforts have unsuccessfully removed such bias. Tricker et al (1996) tested the effect of elevating testosterone and it's impact on aggression in males. In a double-blind experiment no significant difference was found in aggression between the control group and those with elevated testosterone. A meta-analysis of 76 published papers found no difference in the hippocampus size variations among different genders. Lifestyle factors and long-term daily habits impact brain size and functional connectivity more than whether you are male or female.

Rejecting the premises

Due to the uncertain level of influence from societal molding, it is difficult to assess the level in which biology also factors within human behavior.