Читать книгу Companion to Feminist Studies - Группа авторов - Страница 24

Sociobiological explanations of sex differences were particularly popular in the 1970s and 1980s with the publication of books like “Sociobiology: The New Synthesis” by Wilson in 1975 and “The Selfish Gene” by Dawkins in 1976. Wilson defined sociobiology as “the systematic study of the biological basis of all social behavior” (1975, p. 4) and argues that human nature is largely dictated by a set of evolved traits. He and other sociobiologists such as Barash (1977) see sexual difference as rooted in our early evolution, at a time, they argue, when the fundamental structure and function of our brains were set down. Given the demands of the primitive life, brains of males and females diverged to suit males to hunting and competitive behavior and women to child‐rearing and nurturing behavior. Such behavioral dimorphism was adaptively advantageous and secured the survival and reproductive success of the species. Barash recommends acquiescing to our biological natures, saying, “there should be a sweetness in life when it accords with the adaptive wisdom of evolution” (1977, p. 25).To sociobiologists, much of both male and female behavior is seen to be explicable in terms of reproductive strategies designed to optimize both sexes' chances of having many healthy offspring, and perpetuating their genes. A small number of theorists claimed to be feminist and advocates of biological determinism. Sayers records the views of “feminist sociobiologists” like Rossi (1977) who consider that,

It is the task of feminism to enable women to get back in touch with their biologically given essence by, among other things, persuading society to construe and value femininity and female biology equally with masculinity and male biology.

(Sayers 1982, p. 147)

Evolutionary theories about human behavior are still strong although the term sociobiology has largely fallen out of use and has been replaced by a number of offshoots such as evolutionary anthropology and evolutionary psychology. Although it is hard to find any proof for hypotheses about sex differences having their origins in cave life, the idea that our basic human propensities are laid down in our genes is still current, typified in this century by the popularity of the work of psychologists like Pinker (2002) and philosophers like Dennett (2003). Commitment to evolutionary and genetic determinism is still strong though challenged by the rise of areas such as epigenetics which examine the ways in which the environment can alter the expression of genes, once thought to be entirely impervious to external influences.