Name: Natalie Focha, UCLAID: 3039018401. Delusions of Gender by Cordelia Fine describes many manners in which gender influences the individual. Three such influences are gender performances in threatening/non-threatening conditions, gender self-ratings of math skills, and the parental status of men versus women when competing for a job position. A stereotype threat is when an individual is treated poorly due to a negative stereotype about their gender. For instance, an experiment conducted on a group of men and women asked them to take a math exam in a threatening (the test was designed to measure people’s aptitude and to understand why some are better at math than others) and non-threatening testing environment (told subjects that despite testing on thousands of students, no gender performance differences were detected). Researchers found that both genders performed equally as well; however, females tended to perform much better in non-threatening environments. Among the research participants, men in the threatening and non-threatening environments and women in the threatening environment scored approximately 19% correct on this very difficult test; however, women in the non-threatening environment scored 30% correct, higher than any other group. Another gender influence displayed by sociologist Shelley Correll showed that beliefs about gender differences affect how individuals’ rate themselves for particular skills, such as their mathematical ability, and consequently affects their interest in careers for these skills. For instance, Correll found that boys tended to rate their math skills higher than their female counterparts; probably due to the cultural belief that men are required to be better at math than females. Their self-ratings played an important role in their career decisions as the higher individuals who rated themselves in math; the more likely they would head down a career path related to the subject. This phenomenon of gender differences in math ability assessment could explain the gender gap in calculus courses. Women stereotypes in the workplace also inflict gender influences; specifically when applying for a job. Correll et al., using experimental studies, found that parental status of applicants can harm the applicant if they are female; however, they leave the male applicant’s status relatively unaffected. The stereotypes of women and math and mothers as job applicants could influence women to avoid majors related to math and getting married or having children. In retrospect, women would have to scarify something to obtain the future results that they want; whereas their male equals generally would not have to choose. 2. The author uses “neurosexism” to apply to the gender dissimilarities that neuroscience contributes to differences in female and male. One theory about the biological basis of gender inequality is called organizational-activational hypothesis. The organizational-activational hypothesis expresses the idea that prenatal testosterone arranges the brain. The strongest evidence for this theory lies in songbirds (i.e. zebra finches and canaries) where the males have larger and better vocal centers in their brains than the females, probably owing to the fact that only males sing and female songbirds do not. Additionally, giving female finches male hormones masculinizes them by altering the size of their vocal control area and also their behavior (they sing). Also, in rats, since the wave of testosterone that involves male brains takes place after birth, researchers have found that castrated male rats are more similar to female rats behaviors. However, even though finches and rats can provide important peeks into the human system, the fact remains that it is not conceivable to extrapolate this data to humans. Thus we move onto our more closely resembled ancestor, primates. Researchers found that female infant rhesus monkeys find rough-and-tumble play more enticing after being treated prenatally with testosterone than was usual and male rhesus monkeys whom have had prenatal testosterone blocked off tend to avoid rough-and-tumble play. However, prenatal hormones and their effects are much more

complicated than these studies have represented so far. I do not think that this theory has much basis because I believe that most gender differences are learned and not instinctive or genetic.3. I believe that when the author remarked that “wiring is soft, not hard” that she meant that the gender stereotypes, neurosexism, society, etcetera are malleable and subject to change any time. In sixteen years, parents could consider orange and black female and male colors because orange represents the sunset and new life for females and black represents strength and support and mystery. Three means which gender norms are passed down to and picked up by children are reading to their children bed time stories and labeling the animals that do not look female as male, using pink to decorate and dress little girls and blue for boys, and encouraging sports for boys and dolls and cooking for girls and not vice versa.4. I am half Vietnamese on my mother’s side and female at that. Therefore, among the elders of my mother’s family, I am expected to be soft-spoken, patient, quiet, and religious – basically a paragon of goodness. I am a kind person, but I love to laugh and be happy, engage others in conversation and smile. Whenever I try to be the expected, I feel uncomfortable, as if I am pretending to be something that I am not. Thus, I decided that it would be best to act myself and although I do startle my elders at times, I do not feel guilty about appearing to be what I am not. Another example of gender expectations in my life occurred when I was much younger. A friend of the family (and not a particularly nice one) remarked to my mum that she had “better keep that girl in line because she will eventually go off the deep end”, whereas, she thought my brother would grow up into a kind, considerate and successful individual. I believe it was partly because my brother was a male and her culture believed that females were naturally sinful. In any case, her predication did not bear fruit and I have a relatively bright future ahead of me. This second example reminded me of the expectations that parents have for their children based on their sex before the children are even born (i.e. a boy would enjoy sports with the father and a girl would enjoy dress-up games with the mother). If I were to give advice to a young girl about reaching her full potential, I would explain that it is not wise to allow others’ expectations of you to become your own, to dream big and work hard for those dreams no matter the obstacles, gender-related or otherwise, and to remember to believe in herself.5. One of the first studies that caught my interest was the Emily Pronin et al. study. This study found that undergraduate females from Stanford University who had taken more than ten quantitative courses were less likely to consider behaviors such as wearing makeup, being emotional, and wanting children as important. In other words, women who wanted to succeed in math-related fields rather shed some of their unique desires in response to the gender-stereotype that females are not as effective in math as males. I enjoyed reading this study because I believe in individuality and holding on to what you feel more comfortable with and how you wish to be. I have known about this particular shed of self in the sciences for many females and it has frustrated me that some women must give up their lipstick for a name in the sciences. The second study that caught my eye was the Geert De Vries, a neuroendocrinologist, example of how brain differences can lead to similarity in behavior. His subjects were the small monogamous animals called prairie voles, a species in which both males and females contribute equally to the raising of their offspring. Researchers found that the lateral septum of male voles is more richly studded with vasopressin receptors than in female vole brains and leads to the same parenting behaviors that are induced in female voles during their pregnancy. This second study is focused on a pet interest of mine since I learned about prairie voles, one of the 3% of mammals that have monogamous relationships. I am especially fascinated in the neurotransmitters oxytocin and vasopressin that lead to the forming of pair bonds in prairie voles.