ehrenreich on biology

[Katha Pollitt]

Re Barbara E -- Kelley, Barbara Ehrenreich wrote a piece for the nation
with the anthropologist Janet mackintosh maybe three years ago in which
she compared 'extreme" social constructionists to Creationists--they
don't want to admit that human beings are animals.  I've talked with her
about these issues a lot, and believe me, I'm more of a social
constructionist than she is! (for instance, in her Nation article,
Barbara suggested that maybe there is a biological basis to racism --
fear of difference etc. Lots of angry letters came in about that! And
remember -- her book blood Rites posits that there is a biological basis
for war). About sex/gender, She takes the view of Natalie Angier in her
new book Woman-- which is that there's an interplay between biology and
culture, and that female biology has been presented up until now through
a sexist lens that ignores its strengths and exaggerates its differences
from men--when those differences are perceived to disfavor women.  In
the Time article, Barbara does not say that sex differences don't exist,
are trivial, are unworthy of study,  or would play NO role in  a just
society. She does not say that sexual dimorphism is a cultural
construct.She says our society has a faulty ,sexist understanding of it,
and uses humanity's similarity to other animals to skewer sexist biology
-- as when she points out that in predatory species BOTH sexes hunt, so
the Man the Hunter idea is obviously wrong.

Maybe Doug can put Barbara's Nation piece up?

Katha