Letters to the Editor
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What is the problem with her conclusion?
Attack her study, if you must. Discredit her data, if you can. But just because you don't like her conclusions doesn't mean they are not true. Does her methodology result in reliable truth claims? Or is your reaction to biological deteterminism, and the slipperly slope of public policy based on the same?
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well..
I have a son...and I'm not so sure of myself.
I am a very nuturing and calm person...When someone fights with me..I usually leave it go.
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I don't get why this bothers you
First of all, does "nurturing, empathic and tolerant" automatically mean "wimp?" I don't think so.
It's an interesting finding that I certainly would not take personally. I read most Broadsheet postings and often do not understand what we are supposed to be getting fired up about. The main feeling I come away with after reading this blog is that I guess I am not a feminist, though I used to think I was. I don't even think I know what the word means.
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Harrumph
My highly scientific study shows that if you commit heinous crimes in a previous life, you have daughters. I know. I have 6.
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Ok, I'm confused.
I'm totally down with anger at "scientists" who make sweeping generalizations about gender roles. There's tons of that crap going on with so-called "evolutionary" explanations of why men are hunters, while women are gatherers, etc. But I'm really baffled at your anger at this particular study. These seem to be statements of fact: high testosterone is correlated with a) having more boys, and b) having certain personality traits. The conclusion that you can estimate the likelihood of a certain woman having a boy based on her personality traits seems kind of straightforward, at least if the researcher's data is good. What exactly is the problem?
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But don't we want daughters?
It's funny -- I've always been told my testosterone levels are high and I have two girls. And that means that both my daughters have my maternal DNA (I'm going to phrase this incorrectly, but fathers pass on a gene-type thing to boys, unadulterated, and mothers do the same to daughters). As a woman, having girls means my line wins. Of course, my girls have their father's good looks, but I tend to believe that their intelligence, ferociousness, and determined natures (as well as their utter adorableness prior to the final phase of their Global Domination Now programming) comes from me. As well as the Global Domination Now programming, of course.
Carol, you've got girls. That's a good thing. Who cares why. Of course, if you had boys, that'd be a good thing too, but this is one of those "feh" scientific studies. Like the ones on male/female infidelity: we don't get caught out as often, cover our tracks better, etc. 'cause we're well . . . smarter and more socially adept? The guys can run around and say "testosterone made me do it" and we'll just get action when we want to and figure no-one needs to know. Hypothetically speaking, of course.
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@ Jeffrey P. Harrison
"Harrumph
My highly scientific study shows that if you commit heinous crimes in a previous life, you have daughters. I know. I have 6."
Hahahahahahahahah. Funny. I hope you are having fun.
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So How Do You Explain Mothers With Children of Both Sexes?
Are we just neurotic?
I have a daughter and sons. My paternal Grandmother had (in birth order) a girl/two boys/two girls/two boys, my maternal Grandmother had 2 boys/2 girls/1 boy. Did they lose their nurturing ability, only to gain it again?
And what about that earlier study which informed us that goodlooking people tend to have a firstborn female child? Does that mean only goodlooking women are nurturing?
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way to take a stand!
That's right, science! We don't care what empirical evidence demonstrates! It doesn't jive with our worldview, so..... YOU SUCK!!
Perhaps you should think about moving to Kansas. They like people who don't take guff from science.
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I'm really confused.
I seem to remember from my high school bio class that gender was determined by the sperm that fertilizes the egg, not the egg. So what the hell is this about?
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How to affect the sex of your baby...if you must...
Now, this is how you *realy* affect the sex of your child (according to many doctor's and personal experience). I've always been told that "Y sperm swim faster and X sperm live longer".
So, if you want daughters, have sex before ovulation early and often... the odds are that a long-living X sperm will be waiting to fertilize the egg when it's ready.
If you want son's, withold from sex until ovulation happens... the odds are that a faster Y sperm will get there first.
This isn't 100% fool-proof, but appears to have a lot more to do with the sex of your child than personality or hormones. :-)
This has worked out in my own life (5 kids) and my daugher's (5 kids between them). Based on the scenerio, the sex of the child appeared to correspond to these parameters. (The frequency of sex before ovulation, or lack thereof.)
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Question
I had learned that, in humans, the sex chromosome carried by the sperm ultimately determines the gender of the child. Women are, with few exceptions, XX and their eggs will have one X chromosome. As males are, for the most part, XY, their sperm will either have an X or a Y chromosome, and ultimately determine the gender of the child. Of all things, I learned this in History class, before having it reinforced in biology. My teacher was pointing out the absurdity of Henry VIII killing and/or divorcing so many women in search of a son, as ultimately his sperm were to blame for all his daughters.
This having been said, while correlation certainly isn't causation, this study is thought provoking and worthy of following up on....Ultimately, I agree with happycat as I don't see anything worth getting upset over. Also, to happycat, to the extent that you identify as a feminist and derive strength from it, continue to do so. You can still be a feminist without being a broadsheet ditto head. In fact, one could make the case that you're more of a feminist for taking the other side of many of their arguments.
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Oops, the actual questions
So, what am I missing? What's the issue here? And, has something changed since I studied biology and suddenly the egg is determining the gender of the child?