Battle of the Sex Differences: Where to begin?

Cordelia Fine (University of Melbourne)

When it comes to the question of why there are gender differences in behaviour – where to begin? According to Social Role Theory, the most basic cause is social structure. But for Evolutionary Psychologists, the causal arrow starts instead with sex-specific evolved psychological mechanisms. Advocates of the Evolutionary Psychology framework accuse Social Role Theory of being a “blank slate” approach that ignores evolution and biology. In response to these criticisms, I suggest that the mechanisms of Social Role Theory can be reformulated in terms of the evolutionary innovation of “mindshaping” practices as described by Zawidzki (2013), and re-examine evidence typically taken as evidence for direct masculinizing sex effects on the human brain.