Best of the week: Brains and gender.

This week in class Mr. Allen showed us the book The Essential Difference by Simon Baron-Coen. The book discussed the differences between the male and female brains as well as the idea that females can have male brains and vice-a-verse. It stated that male brains are more logical and systematic while female brains are more empathetic. After hearing this, my question was: Why do they need to be called male and female brains? Now, I realize that the author had done studies that showed males as having, in general, one type of brain and females another, but the book even went on to explain that there are exceptions to these rules. For instance, it said that people who suffer from autism tend to have male brains regardless of their biological sex. If there are crossovers between the types of brains then why can't they just be classified by their types? Why can't the brains just be called systematic and empathetic rather than male and female? I think that by labeling the brains by sex we are closing off our view of the bigger picture and limiting ourselves to old stereotypes.
For me,this book also brought up the question: What about transgender people? I was curious to know if the author thought a man who chose to present himself as a female would have a female or male brain. Assuming that the author said a female brain, the question could be raised: What about people like Temple Grandin? She had autism and the author would probably say she also had a male brain, but while temple did in fact have an androgynous style, there has never been evidence that she felt she were a man. In fact, some studies have shown that transgender people actually have a different brain from that of both males and females. I would love to know then, what the author categorized their brain as being, if he even believed such a thing were true.  
In class this past week we also talked about the idea of gender versus sex and the interrelation between the two. The class seemed pretty split between some people believing that your sex is your biology while your gender is what you choose to represent yourself as and some saying that sex and gender are the same thing. Personally, I agree with the first group of people. You should be able to choose what and who you want to be, if you feel that your gender is female even though your sex is male then by all means be a female. The world has never been destroyed by people expressing who they truly are, if anything it as been enriched by it. One example of this is that in Washington, D.C. they are starting to run ads that support transgenders living in their community. In the end, people will always have their own opinions, but who cares?  Be who you want to be and do what makes you happy, regardless of what society, your biological sex, or even your brain type tells you.

Captured thought: Do we create the things we need?

About a week ago, I was reading an article which presented the theory that the characters of Ferris and Sloane in Ferris Bueller's day off were figments of Cameron's imagination. The author suggested that Ferris represented the man Cameron wished he could be, popular, lucky, easy going, and Sloane was the woman he wanted/needed in his life. Based on Cameron's outburst in his fathers car and a majority of his mannerisms, it can be deduced that his character was suffering from some major mental health disorders. Looking at the movie this way completely changes the theme and message, but the author argued that this may not be such a bad thing. If we see the characters as somewhat of a mental crutch that Cameron creates to help him overcome a challenge, then the movie becomes more powerful and raises more questions for discussion.

After reading the article I sort of pondered over what is said but as days passed I forgot about it and the message became nestled somewhere in the back of my brain. Then one day when we were sitting in class talking about Orlando, the concept of memories was brought up, which reminded me of the brain, which reminded me of the article. I remembered Mr. Allen commenting that Virginia Woolf had suffered from depression and other mental disorders, when suddenly something clicked. What if Virginia Woolf had created Orlando to express a part of herself she couldn't otherwise or to deal with something she wasn't sure how to handle? Until now, Orlando had been just a book for me, a wonderfully fantastic book that was doing far more than simply holding my interest, but a book none the less. With the introduction of this new theory, the book became so much more, it became personal. 

Do our minds create the things we need to persevere?  Do we seek people with qualities we lack? Do we select things to fill our gaps? After thinking about both of the previously mentioned examples I decided that the answer to all of these questions is yes. More so though, I hoped and wanted the answer to be yes. When we think of things as being a sort of diary for the creator or a tool to fix what they believe to be broken, so much is added to what we are able to perceive. By understanding that everything around us meant so much more to someone else, it can then mean more to us and in the end this will help us discover more than ever thought possible.