Confused re. gendered brain vs gender as a social construct. AIBU?

[funniestWins]

I hope I can get some genuine answers to a genuine question but am procrastinating working with the radio on and there was an academic discussion about gender as a social construct. Not necessarily feminism, but more of an anthropological debate and it got me wondering... I posted in AIBU for frank opinions as opposed to possibly slewed ones on another part of MN.

Whilst the science is still very much undecided here, many would argue that gender is a social construct and there is no such as a male brain or a female brain. The jury is still out on this one, as am I, but the notion that men and women have any differences in their brains seems to irrationally offend some people.

However, and this is where my inept ponderings become confused, if gender is a social construct and gender roles are nothing more than performative and learned behaviour, then doesn't that fly in the face of those who say they are born in the wrong bodies, that they are a man-brain in a woman's body or vice versa? Either, there can be someone trapped in the wrong body or there is no such thing as male or female brains.

For the sake of transparency, I'm not really a "feminist" as it seems a redundant viewpoint. I've never come across any sexism and I believe that for the most part, feminist emancipation has happened. I fall firmly into the I don't care as long as they're happy camp re. sex changes, transvestism etc.

So, who'd like to put me right or explain how the two ideas can co-exist?

[almondpudding]

Yes, but I think when many people say 'environment' they mean socialisation (not saying you're disagreeing).

I don't mean that. I mean that as well as social factors and genetic factors, there are environmental factors that change the brain.

So if a British baby grew up in a South American hunter gatherer tribe, it isn't just a different society, it is a completely different physical environment - different weather, plants, soils, animals, diseases etc.

The same with the human body - we might behave differently not because our genes made a different brain or because society tells us to, but because we're making decisions in bodies with different reproductive organs, and we take that into account.

So if I were pregnant, there might be hormonal changes that alter how I behave, there might be social issues that alter how I behave, but there are also behavioural changes that come from being aware of what kind of body I currently have. So I might alter the way I lift something because I have a huge bump that gets in the way, not because society or hormones told me to move differently.

[WhenSheWasBadSheWasHorrid]

Yes, but I think when many people say 'environment' they mean socialisation (not saying you're disagreeing

When I say environment I mean the same as you. Socialisation, food, toxins, weather etc etc.

Regarding the pregnancy stuff. Moving in a different way because you have a big bump makes sense.

I hurt my foot last month, walked with a limp for a day. Not because of society or my genes telling me I should but because it hurt.
That seems pretty sensible.

I suppose you could argue that the nervous system allowing you to feel that pain and then affect how your body responds to it has developed due to a combination of your genes and the environment you grew in. But it all sounds perfectly sensible to me

[nooka]

Great conversation, and yes I was probably a bit too black and white earlier.

Adaptations are interesting. I broke both my arm and my jaw more than ten years ago. I still tend to pick up heavy things with my left arm and find it quite difficult to eat with the right side of my mouth even though I have fully recovered and have no reason to favour the left any more.

Brains are weird and fascinating things. According to some neuroscientists we don't really have free will at all because you can see electrical activity in our brain before we are even aware we are thinking.

[WhenSheWasBadSheWasHorrid]

Hi nooka I liked the chat too. Not been on since last night as the toddler has a stomach bug.

I heard about the lack of free will too, so our consciousness is almost just recording what we do. We don't really make any decisions ourselves. Very controversial but fascinating.

[nooka]

Yes, i didn't agree with the idea because my brain is me, so how does it make sense to say I'm not making the decision? I see it as more like the lag between seeing and hearing lightning, my conscious thought is just a bit slower than the neurons.

[Bananacloud]

*but the notion that men and women have any differences in their brains seems to irrationally offend some people.

If that’s the case then same people will be really offended by what my midwife told me about breast milk being different for different sex.
Im off to do some research on that actually