Blog Post #2

 There are a few main takeaways I have compiled after reading each article. First, starting with "The Gendered Brain" Gina Rippon explains that there are no real differences between a male and female brain. She makes a great point about how gender is forced upon us in this day in age. People feel pressure to fit into a stereotype that aligns with their gender. Marketing and social media play a huge roll in this. When an individual looks at what stereotypically makes someone a man and what makes someone a woman and you feel neither way, you may start to question changing your biology. The individual often sees that sex=gender and start to question their biology and think "something must be wrong with me." Her main focus is that brains see the lives they have lived, not the gender that has lived them. She also makes a point that your brain develops based on your experiences. I like the approach she has made because it makes things so much less black and white. If you have a expectation for someone, it will change how that person views themselves. An example made is how society gives boys and girls different toys to play with in childhood. Our brains take the behaviors they see and since they are gendered, we become gendered. Something new that I learned is that this idea of the gendered brain comes from the nineteenth century and was used to develop a superiority for white men. This set the tone that white educated men were at the top and female brains were inferior. I can connect this with the gender inequality that we still see today.

    The second takeaway is from understanding critical thinking. This focuses on how critical thinking can be hard to define. The word critical can often be taken in a negative way. Thinking critically means its important to consider multiple sides of an issue. Critical thinkers are curious and not quick to decide their opinion about something. Their are many points made about how to effectively think critically, such as considering the speaker, audience, statement and relevance. 

    Lastly after listening to "The Edge of Gender" I have taken away is gender is just a mere feature of someones identity. It explains how media is so good about putting us into a stereotype. Media has been striving to be more inclusive by hiring more females and people of different races. There has always been more men than women in the tech field. The main question stems from how gender differences can be seen in the world. If they are explained with genes and chromosomes or culture and environment. Their are multiple arguments brought up such as if gender identity is socially learned and if socialization can override biology. Their is also reality, where some cant make sense of fitting into either gender. I learned that exposure to parental testosterone is a factor in what a child will gravitate to and be interested in. Studies that are talked about also state that there are no differences in the male and female brain. This is because the hippocampus of men and women or the amygdala of women when brain size is taken into account. They also explain that there is not a gender free society and parents that claim to treat their son and daughter the exact same are fooling themselves. In conclusion to the gender debate, it seems as if these issues will never fully be resolved and progression is slow as each individual has their opinions on gender and most think theirs is superior.