Do G&WS feminists reject the findings of ‘Susan Pinker’, developmental psychologist and Feminist writer?

Question

Susan Pinker writer of “The Sexual Paradox,” Differences between men and women – “Troubled Boys, Gifted Girls, and the Real Difference Between the Sexes”

Is this all ‘JUST’ claptrap?

Is this the reason why all of those useless degrees in all of the social sciences & oligies are meaningless?

Quote“”

“after decades of feminism, there's still a pay gap and so few women run major corporations. Girls do better at school and, at least in North America, which is where The Sexual Paradox is really concerned with, enter university in greater numbers.

never mind Simone de Beauvoir's liberating message all those years ago, is that biology is destiny. 'People are programmed,' she writes at one point. Women are 'built for comfort, not speed'. Testosterone makes the male of the species more vulnerable, but also more risk-taking. Oxytocin makes women more empathetic"............

is she saying any thing?

Answer 1

I don't find any substance in the small snippet you have included.  I certainly do not agree with every woman who wants to write a book and decides to call herself a feminist so it will sell.  For example, I think Camille Paglia is completely insane, and yet some idiot publisher continues to publish her ravings.

Answer 2

Never heard of Susan Pinker.

Answer 3

"What was that sweet cheaks" I'd say to her.

Answer 4

I think she's relying too much on bodily chemicals and not enough on what's going on in people's minds. I wasn't built for comfort.

Answer 5

A "journalist psychologist"? I *suspect* this is pop psychology. I've not heard of her in any of my developmental psychology courses. I'd have to review her sources to comment, but I've read papers written by psychologists with a lot more well-known research experience that seem to contradict what I think her book argues (according to the synopsis on Amazon). From your except, she's also severly misrepresenting all the reliable research on Oxytocin.

If you're questioning a psychology degree, try reading the Blackwell Reader in Developmental Psychology first, not some psychobabble book aimed at the mildly curious who have no working knowledge of psychology. Otherwise it's like condemming physics based on the book "How Stuff Works". Oh, and all the people with severe disorders who get cured, or learn to manage them and cope with life more happily, they tend not to think psychology is useless...

Answer 6

Does she have scientific data to back up her assertions, or is she merely providing op-ed?

Answer 7

Only if she supports what they believe.  This board is extremely biased and closed minded.