Gould (1) poses an argument that goes a long way in asserting this view. He argues that the reason as to why the women were sidelined in the society was because their brains are less in capacity than the brains o men. As such, the assumption goes that men are more intelligent than women. The overall interpretation is that women are less productive than men.
In analyzing this statement, there are some few questions that come to the light. If it is said that women are less intelligent than men because their brain size is reduced, what then can be said of the men who are underachievers in the society? They have the size of brain that is thought to be at an intellectual level, yet they do not display the aspects of intelligence as may be expected of them. Similarly, there are women who have achieved great heights in different areas which include education, science and practically every aspect of life. Looking at this perspective, does it mean that there are some women who have greater brains than others? This inconsistency in Gould’s argument leaves a lot to be desired. It forms the basis for a refutation.
There have been people who have looked at this argument and came up with counter arguments. For instance, there is Maria Montessori (Gould, 3) who argued about this case. In her argument, it was clear that regenerative diseases cause a reduction in the size of the brain. Furthermore, she indicates that the women used in Gould’s experiment were the elderly. As such, there is a possibility that by the time Gould took his weights, the brains of these women had already regenerated, and this could probably be the reason as to why the weight was low. Whichever, the case, there is much doubt that arises from Gould’s work. For instance, it is evident that the brain sizes for people who die due to different reasons often tend to be different. As such, there is a controversy as to whether the use of brain size is acceptable as a measure for the intelligence of n individual. If not, then Gould could have made a great contribution to the misconception of women around the globe.
In countering this argument, there is need to illustrate that Gould’s argument was actually wrong. This can be achieved through the use of data showing that women can also easily rate in the class of achievers. It is only then that the masculine society, created by stereotypes such as those argued for by Gould, could be transformed to agree to the fact that women are equally important members of the society. Probably, this can only be achieved if women arose and took a stronger harness on the manner in which the society perceives them.
Work Cited
Gould, Stephen Jay. Women’s Brains. N.d. web, 9th April 2012, http://faculty.washington.edu/lynnhank/wbgould.pdf
