UNNATURAL EQUALITY

their thinking and that men are superior to them in mathematics, problem solving, leadership and fighting.23 Women’s differences are traced not to their conditioned responses to a traditionally male dominated society, but to their own biology which fits them for an altogether different sphere of living. It has now been established that hormones play an important role in creating this difference between the two sexes. When the male hormone testosterone was experimentally injected into females, they began to develop masculine characteristics. Girls who had been injected with male hormones while still at the foetal stage showed less fondness for playing with dolls, and even developed aggressive temperaments like boys. Researchers found that hormones can change the structure of the brain itself, so that if the male and female brain structures differ, the cause may be traced to the difference in hormones. Although this research has clearly established that a difference does exist, physically and mentally, between men and women — ­obviously indicating separate spheres of activity for them — old adherents of the male-female equality concept are still reluctant to accept the reversal of a favorite theory. As a western scholar says: “Whether these physiological differences destine men and women for separate role in society is another and far more delicate question.”24 Almost a decade prior to the Newsweek report, Time magazine, in its special issue on the status of American women, asked the question: “Are women immutably different from men?” Their review of the research findings at that time, summarized in the following pages, is instructive.25 Women’s liberationists believe that any differences other than anatomical are a result of conditioning by society. The opposing view is that all of the differences are fixed in goes. The idea that genetic predispositions exist is based on three kinds of evidence. First, there are the ‘cultural universals’ cited by anthropologist Margaret Mead: Almost everywhere, the mother is the principal caretaker of the child, and male dominance and aggression are the rule. Some anthropologists believe there has been an occasional female dominated society: others insist that none has ever existed. Then there is the fact that among most ground dwelling primates, males are dominant and have as a major function the protection of females and offspring. Some research suggests that it is true even when the young are raised apart from adults, which seems to mean that they do not learn their roles from their society. Finally, behavioral sex differences show up long before any body could possibly perceive subtle differences between his parents or know which parent he is expected to imitate. “A useful strategy,” says Harvard psychologist Jerome Kagan, “is to assume that the earlier a particular difference appears, the more likely it is to be influenced by biological factors.” Physical differences appear even before birth. The heart of the female fetus often beats faster, and girls develop more rapidly. “Physiologically,” says sociologist Barbette Blackington, “women are better-made animals.” Males do have more strength and endurance — though that hardly matters in a technological society.