Following Interests

For John, BLUF:  I wonder if those who went before us are not quite as ignorant and rigid as we think they were?  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Patriarchy paradox: how equality reinforces stereotypes

From The Times (of London), by Science Editor Tom Whipple, 15 September 2018.  Yes, this is a bit moldy and I am a bit slow in blogging about it.

Here is the lede plus three:

We all know what is meant to happen when the genders become more equal.  As women smash glass ceilings and open up education, other differences should disappear too.

Without the psychological shackles of being the second sex, women are free to think and behave as they want; to become physicists or chief executives, unfettered by outdated stereotypes.

Yet to the confusion of psychologists, we are seeing the reverse.  The more gender equality in a country, the greater the difference in the way men and women think.  It could be called the patriarchy paradox.

Two new studies have again demonstrated this counterintuitive result, meaning it is now one of the best-established findings in psychology, even if no one can properly explain it.

Or maybe the researchers are going with assumptions that are just flat wrong.

Perhaps equality provides the opportunity for women, and men, to beam off in the direction they wish, rather than the direction society has been pointing them.

Be warned, there is a pay wall and no freebees.

Why do we assume that, given the different functions of the two genders in perpetuating the human race, the two genders have identical interests, insights and abilities?  This is not to say that one area belongs to one or the other gender.  However, there might be tendencies and interests that diverge.  I wonder how many people we have harmed, to some degree, because of our beliefs about what is and isn't proper for children growing up?

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff