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Re: Gender, Language, etc.
Ruby Rohrlich (rohrlich@GWIS2.CIRC.GWU.EDU)
Tue, 11 Apr 1995 13:41:32 -0400
Bret, this was written during the first women's movement in the last
century, when a whole array of so-called social scientists, including
anthropologists, were saying this kind of thing. This period, social
Darwinism, was incredibly racist and classist, as well as sexist. They
were saying the same kind of thing about the brain size and intelligence
of blacks and the poor. What they were really saying was that people in
the lower social strata were there because
they were
genetically inferior. And what are they saying now in The Bell Curve?
By the way, when my older son was in the sixth grade, his teacher told
the class that women had smaller brains than men, as reflected in their
smaller size. But I pointed out to my son, who was believing what his
teacher said, that he was shorter than the tallest children in his class,
and he did a double take. Ruby Rohrlich
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