Biological Theory Of Gender Essay

In a modern colorful culture we find that there is not a cookie cutter approach for understanding gender. Since gender is multifaceted and carries a broad spectrum of definitions and formulations, it is then worthwhile to try to understand these definitions and formulations by using theories to help us classify masculine and feminine traits or the lack thereof as male or female. We can delve into this complex concept and break the ambiguity of it by examining three theories which are biological, interpersonal, and psychological in scope. This paper will explain each theory and will offer my views on them as well. The biological theory of gender teaches that “biological characteristics are the basis of gender differences” (Wood 41). This theory presumes that “x and y chromosomes, hormonal activities, and brain specialization influences a range of individual qualities from body features to thinking and motor skills” (Wood 41). The evidence certainly supports these notions especially when we consider hormonal activity in the human body. Estrogen, which is the dominant hormone of women and testosterone the dominant hormone of men are determinative of an individual’s sway to either a character that resembles more femininity or that of masculinity. An overexposure to either hormone causes
Both sexes develop differently in parts of the brain and thus are enabled to reason, act, and behave in different ways. Men possess a larger amygdala, the center of emotions such as anger and fear, in the brain. This increases the probability of men “engaging in risky and aggressive behavior (Brizendine 2007)”. In women the “insula, which affects intuition and empathy, is larger (Brizendine 2007)”. When the brain is used for activities such as listening, it is shown that “men use mostly the left lobes of their brains whereas women use both lobes of the brain to listen (“Men Use Half a Brain to Listen,”