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Julia Patterson
Final Reflection Paper
Coming into this class, I had few preconceptions about sex differences between males and females in terms of either personality or behavioral traits or appropriate roles within society. I had always been skeptical of any generalized distinctions of behavioral patterns based on sex or gender. With this perspective, I was at first surprised by some of the early readings we completed for this class. In particular, I found arguments rooted in evolutionary theory concerning male and female preferences to be particularly unconvincing. However, I did find that many of the facts presented in relation to sex-based differences in communicating styles, and priorities to ring true. As the semester progressed and we read many pieces that were inherently at odds with each other, these arguments concerning inherent differences in the way males and females approach human interaction seemed to me the most convincing. While the readings provided ample examples, I found the most compelling evidence to come from my own experiences. With these new concepts in the back of my mind I immediately began to notice many of these trends reflected in the behavior of my boyfriend, my male friends, and even my dad. The preoccupation with independence, competition, and hierarchy seemed to be subtly present. One example that stands out to me is that my boyfriend sometimes gets very quiet with me when we are alone. In general and around our respective friends he is very outgoing, talkative and loud so this behavior somewhat confused and bothered me. However, the readings that focused on differences in male and female communication patterns seemed to accurately explain these circumstances. I found that keeping this information in mind also made me subconsciously reflect on my own behavior and consider these differences. This information was highly applicable in my own life and has helped me within my personal relationships. This applicability between what we have learned this semester in the classroom and understanding the world in which I live in such a straightforward and tangible way is clear evidence to me of the value of studying humanities based disciplines. As an Anthropology major this has already been the focus of much of my studies but I found this class to be of particular interest as it focused on a subject of which I had little prior knowledge aside from personal experience. I think there is inherent value in classes such as these that challenge our perceptions of the society in which we live and help us to better understand our interpersonal interactions. I additionally appreciated the meshing of the humanities based learning with the biological components presented as well. This offered a perspective congruent with reality where culture and science cannot be fully separated. This viewpoint provided especially interesting insight in terms of looking at the nature versus nurture debate and understanding how both biology and society play a role in shaping sex and gender differences. As the topic of this class was of particular interest to me, I was inspired to choose a topic for my Anthropology capstone research project that related back to some of the themes presented in this course. I wrote about an American anthropologist, Beatrice Whiting, and her research, much of which concerned cross- cultural comparisons of childrens development and how it is affected by different child rearing techniques. I found her studies on sex differences of children to be of particular interest and they tied right into much of the information we looked at in class. She also used an extensive interdisciplinary and comparative approach, much as we did. This research combined with taking this class made me appreciate the importance of learning in a way that transcends one particular major or field of focus in order to get the most accurate picture. I hope there will be more classes offered in the future through the honors program that provide this same insight.