Unpopular Science - 240411

Unpopular links about differences between boys and girls

It’s popular to talk about the under-representation of women in science, or to bemoan how such-and-such issue is underfunded and to blame sexism, misogyny or worse.

It’s unpopular to notice that people seem to care more about gender disparities in some subjects (e.g. computer science), but not in others (e.g. dangerous or backbreaking jobs, like garbage workers). It’s also unpopular to point out all men are sons of women, and most men are also fathers, brothers, and wives to women who they love dearly. I don’t care how many men are on a government panel deciding how to allocate health research funding; the men I know are at least as concerned about the health of the women in their lives as they are for themselves. The same is true for women: no reasonable mother wants her son to be denied opportunities just because he’s a boy. And every parent familiar with both boys and girls knows you can’t blame all differences solely on environment. 

In Unpopular Science this week, let’s look more closely at some recent science about the sexes.