The myth of Mars and Venus: Do men and women really speak different languages?
Submitted by readforpleasure on Wed, 2007-10-24 15:04.Steven Poole discusses Deborah Cameron's new book, The Myth of Mars and Venus. Cameron debunks the idea that men and women have innately different language skills and preferences.
I've linked to some fascinating (and funny) excerpts of her book, and a BBC Radio 4 interview:
http://www.readforpleasure.com/2007/10/myth-of-mars-and-venus.html
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I haven't checked out the link but I think Deborah Cameron is what the world needs!
I have to admit I don't call myself a feminist anymore, I refer to myself as a spokesperson for equality and equal rights because of the whole Mars and Venus movement. Feminism over here is so associated with women obsessing with showing the world how different the two sexes are mentally. A lot of research into that has come up with pretty much nothing. I think it's a waste with time and taxpayers' money. Instead, focus on neutralizing the unspoken and horrible laws of gender inequality that seem to rule salaries, career options, political and civil rights that apply to women everywhere.
Sadly though, dogma drives the mob...
Put scientifically, it may come out quite wrong, I'm quoting a professor I had in my cog psych class: "There are no exciting differences between men and women..."
I agree, Deborah Cameron makes a whole lot of sense. She gave an excellent interview on BBC, and the excerpts of her book sound *so* much more solid than the pseudo-science being pushed by the Mars & Venus camp. That's what impressed me--Cameron has really thoroughly surveyed the research.
I know what you mean--feminism has become a bad word, when what it fundamentally should mean is something positive: equality, as you describe.
On the science end, it's interesting how little solid difference between the sexes has been found--but the media keep reporting that there ARE huge differences. (I'm sure there are differences sometimes, but let's discover them through science, not simply assert them based on prejudices!
E.g. National Public Radio (which has a good reputation) has a recent article on "Why women read more than men" that cites some really wrong data that's been discredited by the science community:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14175229&sc=emaf
I talked a bit about the bad science here:
http://www.readforpleasure.com/2007/09/why-women-read-more-than-men-or-not.html
Even now that Cameron's book is out, they won't retract the story. Hmm, maybe I'll post that story here.