Re: Gender Issues (was guidelines/ethics)

James Rogers (jamesr@best.com)
Mon, 16 Dec 1996 16:15:00 -0800


At 09:23 PM 12/16/96 +0100, you wrote:
>>
>> I'm not talking about sexism here. I'm talking about the
>> constructed gender differences that we are trained in since infancy.
>
>You don't believe that there is physical og psychological diffrences
>between man and woman. That it's something we are simply taught?

I for one believe that there *are* subtle and distinct architectural
differences between the male and female of the species. I also believe that
these architectural differences (be it structural or chemical differences)
precipitate certain characteristics and tendencies. Many of the social
interactions that we can observe in our species, including gender
differentiating ones, have evolved for one reason or another over millions
of years. Like a non-trivial percentage of our evolutionary baggage, some
of our behaviors may not be particularly relevant in our current state of
evolution, but persist nonetheless by force of nature. Our technological
development has been much quicker than our evolutionary development and it
shows. It may take more than one hundred years of technological and social
development to reverse 10 million years of biological and evolutionary tuning.

I personally evaluate every human (and transhuman) on an individual basis.
However, it is equally prudent (and natural) that I notice patterns that
correlate specific human characteristics and behaviors. Whether or not
these patterns were programmed by nature or society is irrelevant to
recognizing that they exist.

Many people are sensitive to this issue, so I have tried to keep the post as
clinical as possible for the benefit of discussion.

-James Rogers
jamesr@best.com