Counter-Intuitive Concepts
Notes for “What Makes You Who You Are”
A counter-intuitive idea –
That our genes and our experiences interact with, and have an impact on the development and/or functioning of, each other.
How do our genes impact our experiences?
They predispose us – but don’t cause us – to experience, respond to our environment in a certain way. Text example (p.32): “What we inherit is not a fear of snakes but a predisposition to learn a fear of snakes – a nature for a certain kind of nature.”
How do our experiences impact our genes?
Our genes are designed to (p.32): “…take their cues from everything that happens to us from the moment of our conception.”
What are hox genes and what do they do?
Hox genes are a small group of genes that set …show more content…
• ...compared to anatomy (genitalia, etc.)? – the 2 are not the same thing, per article
• …compared to sexual orientation? – the 2 are not the same thing, per article
• Definition of gender from USC Berkeley professor Judith Butler – “Gender is a way of making the world seem secure.” Butler sees gender as basically just a social construct.
• An increasing number of scholars & others see gender as the interplay between biology, genes, hormones and culture
• Historically we’ve had 2 categories, male and female, with specific stereotypes for each. Michael Kimmel, sociology professor at SUNY-Stony Brook, says: “The (idea that) there are two distinct categories and there’s no overlap, that’s beginning to break down...those old categories seem to be more fluid.”
Terminology: • Transsexual – The outdated term for people who want to change, or are in the process of changing, their sex via hormone therapy and surgery.
• Transvestites – the antiquated term for those who are now called “cross-dressers.”
• Transgender – anyone whose gender identity or expression differs from their sex at birth, whether they have surgery or not
Physiologically becoming male or female – the …show more content…
• At about 8 weeks, the X and Y chromosomes kick into gear and determine whether then embryo becomes physiologically male or female (whether the embryo develops ovaries or testes). The ducts that end up being unnecessary simply break down.
• The fetus’ ovaries or testes, whichever the fetus has at this point, begin pumping out testosterone and estrogen; “bathing” the developing fetus in hormones
• The brain begins to form, complete with receptors – wired differently in males and females – that later determine how estrogen and testosterone are used in the body
• Male newborns, between 1-5 months, experience a “hormone surge.”
• Culture (and socialization) kick in. Studies show that parents treat boys and girls very differently; breast-feeding boys longer but talking more to girls. This happens while the baby’s brain is undergoing a “massive growth spurt;” doubling in size during the first 5 years. Thus “the brain is interacting with culture from Day
A counter-intuitive idea –
That our genes and our experiences interact with, and have an impact on the development and/or functioning of, each other.
How do our genes impact our experiences?
They predispose us – but don’t cause us – to experience, respond to our environment in a certain way. Text example (p.32): “What we inherit is not a fear of snakes but a predisposition to learn a fear of snakes – a nature for a certain kind of nature.”
How do our experiences impact our genes?
Our genes are designed to (p.32): “…take their cues from everything that happens to us from the moment of our conception.”
What are hox genes and what do they do?
Hox genes are a small group of genes that set …show more content…
• ...compared to anatomy (genitalia, etc.)? – the 2 are not the same thing, per article
• …compared to sexual orientation? – the 2 are not the same thing, per article
• Definition of gender from USC Berkeley professor Judith Butler – “Gender is a way of making the world seem secure.” Butler sees gender as basically just a social construct.
• An increasing number of scholars & others see gender as the interplay between biology, genes, hormones and culture
• Historically we’ve had 2 categories, male and female, with specific stereotypes for each. Michael Kimmel, sociology professor at SUNY-Stony Brook, says: “The (idea that) there are two distinct categories and there’s no overlap, that’s beginning to break down...those old categories seem to be more fluid.”
Terminology: • Transsexual – The outdated term for people who want to change, or are in the process of changing, their sex via hormone therapy and surgery.
• Transvestites – the antiquated term for those who are now called “cross-dressers.”
• Transgender – anyone whose gender identity or expression differs from their sex at birth, whether they have surgery or not
Physiologically becoming male or female – the …show more content…
• At about 8 weeks, the X and Y chromosomes kick into gear and determine whether then embryo becomes physiologically male or female (whether the embryo develops ovaries or testes). The ducts that end up being unnecessary simply break down.
• The fetus’ ovaries or testes, whichever the fetus has at this point, begin pumping out testosterone and estrogen; “bathing” the developing fetus in hormones
• The brain begins to form, complete with receptors – wired differently in males and females – that later determine how estrogen and testosterone are used in the body
• Male newborns, between 1-5 months, experience a “hormone surge.”
• Culture (and socialization) kick in. Studies show that parents treat boys and girls very differently; breast-feeding boys longer but talking more to girls. This happens while the baby’s brain is undergoing a “massive growth spurt;” doubling in size during the first 5 years. Thus “the brain is interacting with culture from Day