Does Gender Research Facilitate Sexism?

Alejandra Suarez begins her review of The Neuropsychology of Women by noting,

From the time when Aristotle claimed that the leader of a hive is the king bee, that women have smaller brains than men, and that the female of the species has fewer teeth than the male (Mayhew, 2004), there have been attempts to pass off misogyny as science. In particular, pseudoscientific claims of biological differences have been used to justify oppression and disdain (see discussion in Gould, 1981). A book documenting sex and gender dimorphism is like a comedy routine—timing is everything. If the text appears before its time, it can be a breeding ground for prejudiced rationalization of flimsy conclusions. If the book is thoughtfully published when the field is ripe enough, it can combat those same prejudices.

Can you think of other examples of research in gender differences in which the resulting data have been used to stigmatize women?

Read the Review

Neuropsychology: Hers and His
By Alejandra Suarez
      PsycCRITIQUES, 2009 Vol 54(23)