Sex and Biology

I really enjoyed Dr. Widman’s guest lecture today on the biological differences between men and women. Being a sexuality major, the topic is really important to me and to anyone going into a health field for women. I thought that he brought up some very good points and talked about the research that has been done in a very easy-to-understand way. A lot of what he talks about can be found in books by biologists like Richard Dawkins (particularly in his book The Selfish Gene), so I did recognize it, but he definitely brought up some new points that I hadn’t heard before.

Personally, I believe biology is incredibly important when it comes to the differences between men and women. Yes culture plays a huge part, but I think that a lot of what we believe socially and culturally can be traced back to biological and evolutionary facts. I feel that Toria brought up a lot of good points, and she definitely challenged Dr. Widman to back up what he was saying, but I think that as students we need to remember that nature and nurture are intertwined. It’s nowhere near easy to separate them. I believe that oftentimes, when we speak of “cultural” ways of thinking and biological phenotypes, we are discussing the same thing. They feed into each other.

I was really glad to have the opportunity to listen to Dr. Widman speak. It really helps to recognize the biological factors behind differences in men and women – and it doesn’t mean that you can’t go against that biology. Your genes do not have to define you. Though we may be biological conditioned to do a certain thing, that does not make it right by cultural and societal standards. As our cultural norms shift, we can go against the grain of our genes. I feel that that is an important part of knowing about our evolutionary history and being able to apply that knowledge to life.