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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 3 page essay that discusses the essays "The Egg and the Sperm" by Emily Martin and "Women's Brains" by Jay Gould. Both authors address how culture can shape and influence what scientists present as "fact." While Martin and Gould address different aspects of gender bias that have appeared in science, they are in agreement that gender stereotypes of male and female behavior have highly influenced how natural phenomena is perceived. Both essays suggest that the general public should be highly skeptical of science whenever so-called "scientific" conclusions appear to justify or rationalize societal biases. No additional sources cited.
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3 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_khmargou.rtf
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and influence what scientists present as "fact." While Martin and Gould address different aspects of gender bias that have appeared in science, they are in agreement that gender stereotypes of
male and female behavior have highly influenced how natural phenomena is perceived. Both essays suggest that the general public should be highly skeptical of science whenever so-called "scientific" conclusions appear
to justify or rationalize societal biases. Goulds essay largely concerns how nineteenth century science labored industriously, via such methodologies as craniometry ("measurement of the skull") to definitively prove the
inferiority of women (Gould 152). Paul Broca was a nineteenth century leader in this field and Gould summarizes hi work, which involved measuring and weighing the brains of both men
and women during autopsy. Broca took a generally smaller brain size as definitive proof of womens intellectual inferiority to men. Interestingly, Broca made no attempts into account such variables as
differences in body size in his calculations because he stated that it was known, "a priori, that women are not as intelligent as men (a premise that the data
was suppose to test, not rest upon" (Gould 152). Similarly, Gould points out that women were not Brocas only target group. Broca stated, "Men of the black races have a
brain scarcely heavier than that of white women" (Gould 154). As this illustrates, Gould uses science history to show how deeply held human values--in this case, racial and gender
prejudice--can have a tremendous influence on scientific investigation. In other words, how a scientist views reality can have a profound influence on what research questions are asked and this can
shape the criteria for how theories are selected and formulated. This is precisely the same point that Martin makes in her essay, which employs a more modern focus. Martin
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