Nora, Nora, Nora… Dr. Nora S. Newcombe, how in the world did you think you were thinking straight when you wrote this article? I mean, no offense, but the “straight thinking” as you suggested in your article “Taking Science Seriously: Straight Thinking about Spatial Sex Differences,” left me rather dizzy and confused. It’s like you would set out on a great adventure to find gold and came back with two pennies, five plastic knives, and a stray cat. That being said, I enjoyed the idea of your discussion and believe you made a few good points (maybe excluding your gratuitous tangents you attempted to use as fruitful leverage—that introduction, yikes). I would have hoped to see less speculation and more supporting evidence that didn’t involve the times of the Neanderthals, horny voles, or “accidental” acne. Let me break your own stuff down for you.
Yes, you can gather all the hunters. No, you cannot hunt all the gatherers.
Hunter Man over there may get all the fame and glory for being known to have spatial ability, but Gatherer Gal over here has spatial ability all the same! We’re all “hunters” in the sense that we have spatial ability. As much as I’d like to agree with this wholeheartedly, on the other hand, basket weaving isn’t differential calculus and pottery isn’t a Java program (duh, but going somewhere with this, don’t worry). Is there a difference between creative spatial ability and technical spatial ability? Sort of! In a study conducted at Vanderbilt University, researchers found spatial ability contributes uniquely to the prediction of different kinds of creative outcomes by performing a stepwise discriminant-function analysis on the four criterion groups of 13 year olds. So, basically they concluded the two are intertwined, yet, rather, spatial ability prompts creativity. According to Kimura, males have an advantage. Maybe that’s why Picasso seems to roll of the tongue better than Kahlo. Something to ponder.
The other part of this is just I thought the voles added a weird touch to her argument. Favorite sentence: “The skills it takes to impregnate many females probably include such abilities as charm and stealth, more than the ability to find one’s way among a cluster of huts” (73). Probably, Nora.
The Acme of Acne
Acne is not an accident it’s actually a byproduct of… drum roll please… Androgens! So, let me back you up, Nora. Males and females produce androgens. Testosterone is the chief hormone. Since males produce 10 times more testosterone than females, acne is more likely to appear longer and more intense on males than females.
When that time of the month comes, acne is there to ruin the day. (I never knew the exact cause, so I’m over here like “Oh, wow! It all makes so much more sense!”)
Conflusion
If only that ah-ha moment would hit when I struggle grappling why there aren’t more women in science. Back to stage “dazed and confused.”
References
Aguirre, Claudia. “Understanding Male Skin.” Articles. The International Dermal Institute, n.d. Web. 18 Sept. 2015. <http://www.dermalinstitute.com/us/library/73_article_Understanding_Male_Skin.html>.
Kell, Harrison J. David Lubinski, Camilla P. Benbow, and James H. Steiger. “Creativity and Innovation Management.” Creativity and Technical Innovation: Spatial Ability’s Unique Role (n.d.): n. pag. Vanderbilt.edu. Vanderbilt Psychology Department, 2013. Web. 17 Sept. 2015. <https://my.vanderbilt.edu/smpy/files/2013/01/Kell-et-al.-2013b1.pdf>.