The Summers reaction is out of proportion

I know this is kind of old news, but as I just started my blog a few weeks ago I am only getting around to posting it now.

The irreparable wrong committed by Harvard president Larry Summers, in the eyes of many, is to claim that scientific studies had pointed to cognitive differences between men and women, and that this could at least partly explain the lack of women scientists, without backing up the link with solid evidence. The fact is that studies have shown sex differences in brain function in a range of tasks (some favoring men, and some favoring women). In a number of cases, differences in the same direction as in humans have been demonstrated in rats, arguing against claims of cultural prejudice as a source of the disparity. For instance, just recently, ratios of 6.5:1 and 1:10 were found for men relative to women in the volumes of gray and white matter, respectively, involved in general intelligence (Neuroimage. 2005 Mar;25(1):320-7, Link to abstract). How this affects intellectual ability is uncertain, though one co-author comments that these differences agree well with previously demonstrated differences in cognition between the sexes
(see the Gene Expression post).

From the point of government and public policy, the question should not be whether men and women are different, how different they are, or whether any differences are good or bad, but whether men and women have the freedom to make their own life choices. If both men and women can be doctors, lawyers, engineers, or even stay at home parents, if they are so inclined, it doesn’t matter if some men dislike women being lawyers, or some women dislike men being teachers, or whatever. There is no need for men and women who praise separate gender roles to be “converted,” for boys to be sent to “sensitivity training” and girls to “empowerment” programs, or for those who suggest a biological basis for sex differences to be labeled evil. Similarly, there is no need for successful career women who enjoy their work to be forced back into the kitchen, or for those who believe men and women are essentially the same intellectually to be convinced otherwise.

I’m not saying that research into biological sex differences isn’t worthwhile—it is just as interesting and meaningful from a purely scientific viewpoint to study how the presence of an X or Y chromosome affects brain function as to investigate how we remember words, how the immune system recognizes pathogens, or why stars are distributed throughout our galaxy the way they are. It’s just that we have people who think that if studies show women inherently tend to be less proficient at or interested in math, that means that women should be rejected from science and engineering programs without regard to individual merit, or conversely that if studies fail to show large cognitive differences that the representation of men and women in all walks of life should be equal and any desire for men and women to be different reflects oppression.

The fact that comments like Summers’s are so intensely politicized is seen in many guises in modern cultural dialogue, surrounding many different groups. It doesn’t need a scientific study to show that many people of all genders, races, and nationalities have a strong tendency to turn to government programs and committees when someone else has an opinion about them that they don’t like, or they feel their group is underachieving in some area of life.

Do we really need to have the political climate dominated by those who whine about oppression of women and vilify anyone who questions their perception, and on the other side by those like feminist critic Christina Hoff Sommers who claim that we need to address the current “war on boys?” Can’t we just let everyone, whether male or female, do what comes most naturally to himself or herself with his or her own unique abilities, and choose to socialize with, work with, and date whomever they want? In that case, ultraconservatives will be forced to accept women who occupy high executive positions in companies, have abortions, and choose not to get married. On the other hand, female doctors will have to accept that some men consider them less feminine for their choice of profession, or even doubt their ability to succeed.