Gender and Such

Hello everyone!

In researching my final project, I've come across some very interesting scientific research that I find so tantalizing that I thought I'd share it with you all.

What I found was a rather scientific book from 1998 rotting on the third floor of the Bobst Library. I say "rotting" with detest, as I am a closeted bibliophile and this book had only ever been checked out once; meaning that it has hardly been touched and that just boils my blood. Especially when the content of this book is so oddly fascinating. Essentially, this group of scientists suggest (based on research, blah, blah, blah; I skipped that part because I couldn't pronounce half the words in my head let alone with my tongue) that our perceptions of our gender--and of gender in general--are mostly derived from the hormones we are exposed to as fetuses... and those perceptions are then enforced, or in some cases contradicted, by society for the rest of our existence.

For me, this is a wild and radical notion--I had no idea this theory existed or could be backed up with cold hard meticulous modern science. I wonder why this wasn't publicized, on the news, something! It's gotten me to thinking that maybe the reason I'm very forward and blunt where most women would be "feminine" is because my mother did an intense amount of home improvement projects while pregnant, releasing more testosterone into the womb. Or, perhaps the reason my fiancee is so cuddly and girlish lies in fact that his mother practiced religious meditation while she was pregnant with him. Maybe these values of physical activity or religiosity were enhanced in us by the families we grew up in and that's why we view gender and gender roles the way we do--as something that's there, but fluid and indeterminate, something we can flip and flop as the situation moves us. I just think it's terribly interesting.

Thoughts?