Comments on: Race bias and the menstrual cycle

By: Beth

Beth — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 16:48:58 +0000

I seem to recall being told somewhere along the line in this discussion that men don’t have hormonal fluctuations. I came back here after seeing this article: http://jezebel.com/5498832/how-wall-streets-men-act-like-menstruating-women to point it out, but am not finding those comments again. Maybe I was thinking of another thread.
Still, here’s at least one example of a hypothesis about male hormonal fluctuations’ influence on behavior that could be tested / explored, were anyone so inclined.

By: Heather Munro Prescott

Heather Munro Prescott — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 13:37:03 +0000

I agree with Beth. I’m a historian of women’s health and when I see studies like these I feel like I’m in a time warp.

By: floatingweed

floatingweed — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 03:31:15 +0000

Studies like this are patronizing to minorities, a typical British trait.
The unconscious patronization of minorities does not help anyone. For example, a study by Kent Harbor (1998) asked white university women to evaluate a poorly written essay. When they believed the writer was black, the women gave significantly higher scores and never strongly criticized essays. On the other hand, the women expressed harsh criticism when they thought the essays were written by a white person. Liberal authors will typically go on to cry about how this ‚Äúinflated praise and insufficient criticism‚Äù could hinder minority achievement, but what about the effect on whites?
Even in social science where definitions are supposed to be explicit, the word prejudice has been overextended by guilt-ridden or just plain biased liberals or stupid leftists. Prejudice should be clearly defined as prejudging an individual. There is plenty of that going around everywhere in the world. Prejudice is not perception of general characteristics of some culture or ethnic group. Perception of general characteristics of a culture or ethnic group could be true (intelligent) or false (biased). To dislike some perceived characteristic of a culture or ethnic group is not prejudice. If an individual starts exhibiting some behavioral characteristic that one does not like, then it is not prejudice to dislike the individual for it.

By: Beth

Beth — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 00:20:48 +0000

Understanding these connections is interesting and has its uses, but I’m tired of having my gender medicalized and pathologized. Why are hormone fluctuations in men not studied as closely or publicized as widely? Women have been told plenty already about how their ‘instability’ resulting from having a menstrual cycle disqualifies them from any number of activities, especially leadership and responsibility positions, and in some countries, even being considered equal citizens. “What are you, on the rag?” is a common way of silencing a woman’s voice and invalidating her point of view. Research like this, presented without appreciation for the social context, only furthers and more deeply entrenches these harmful stereotypes.