But does it make sense to expect sex to create essences in the brain and behavior? Across species, the same evolutionary problem of sexual reproduction has been solved in lots of different ways — and this means that possession or absence of a Y chromosome (and the other genetic components of sex) doesn’t, in and of itself, dictate a particular way of behaving. But also, within some species — including our own, as this chapter fleshes out some more — neither sex has the monopoly on characteristics like competitiveness, promiscuity, choosiness, and parental care. (emphasis mine)The particular pattern, as we saw, depends on the animal’s ecological, material, and social situation. This suggests that, even within a particular species, the effect of the genetic and hormonal facets of sex on brain and behavior must not inflexibly inscribe or “hardwire” particular behavioral profiles or predispositions into the brain; not even those more common in one sex than the other. Instead, they are drawn out to a greater or lesser degree, as circumstances dictate.
Fine, Cordelia. Testosterone Rex: Myths of Sex, Science, and Society (p. 87). W. W. Norton & Company. Kindle Edition.
The long and short of this is, that there is no binary difference between all men and all women. Learned behaviors and outlooks in this particular society at this particular period in time are highly reflective of gender indoctrination and other factors within a patriarchal culture and have little to do with inherent masculinity or maleness.
I’ve been intentionally investigating and dismantling my own gender indoctrination for the past 20 or so years. Although I’ve made good progress, I’ll never know for sure exactly who I would have been without that early and ongoing training. Cultural messaging is so pervasive and so deeply ingrained in our subconscious minds, that there is no way to escape it entirely. But that doesn’t mean that we can’t take a good hard look at the things we know cause problems and try to do better.
