Debunking Biological Myths about Women
Myth #1: Women are broken versions of men
Aristotle's The Generation of Animals, Sigmund Freud's Penis Envy, and John Grey's Mars and Venus explored this very idea.
Biology has disproven the belief that women are broken versions of men. In fact, in a close examination of genes, the 23rd chromosome in a human body, which identifies the sex of a human, looks like XX in females and XY in males. The Y in a male resembles an X with a missing leg rather than an individual letter. Ironically, science has shown that in some cases, one could more adequately argue that males are broken or variant versions of females! Of course, overall, men are no more broken versions of women than women are of men.
Myth #2: Women's reproductive organs hinder women from participating in certain activities.
Females carry the lion share of the biological reproduction of the human race, and historically it developed that women were somehow impaired because of their reproductive roles (men were not). As a result of this long-term assumption, societies have defined the female reproductive traits as hindrances to activities. This is one of the biggest arguments of why
every society on earth has been patriarchical.
A patriarchical society is one in which men are dominant in all social categories of the society.
Early medical journals serve as historical evidence on societies viewing women's reproduction process as negative and inferior. In one 1898 journal (written entirely by men), the country's best physicians had very inaccurate information and knowledge about the human body and how it worked. In the writings, pregnancy was considered "normal" within most circumstances while menstruation was seen as at type of disease process that had to be treated.
The journal actually referred to menstrual problems as being "unnatural" and normal only if "painless" and thus the patient should be treated rather than the "disease." Indeed from a male scientific perspective in 1898, females and their natural reproductive cycles were problematic. Also, the continuing view of medical journals was that females were more fragile and vulnerable and should be treated more carefully than males especially during puberty.
Of course, now we know that even though men and women do slightly differ on a few primary and secondary sex characteristics, a woman's reproductive traits do not hinder her from participating in activities or excelling in a job or position. Throughout the last century, women in the United States have progressively earned equality with men in a variety of social arenas, and a lot of the success was helped along by science debunking the sexist myths.
Myth #3: Biology aside, women are inferior to men and therefore do not need equal treatment.
Unfortunately, even though many of the archaic views about women's biology have been illuminated, the view that women are inferior still exists in certain parts of the world and is still used to justify unequal treatment.
Historically, in hunting and gathering societies, because women had to spend a large portion of time birthing and caring for children, hunting simply was not an option for them, leaving the responsibility to the men. A societal attitude developed that men were stronger and the most equipped to be the "breadwinner" as compared to women.
This societal attitude has persisted. Basically, women have been punished for having and caring for children. An example today might be a woman losing a promotion after taking a maternity leave.
Many of the differences and attitudes that we have about ourselves as male or female are likely not biological at all. In fact, sociologists argue that a great deal of the attitudes and expectations of being male and female are learned or socialized. The following slideshows go into detail on the socialization of gender and how gender roles develop.
