The Difference between the Sexes - From Biology to Behaviour

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Anne Fausto Sterling

Brown University, USA

Biography

Anne Fausto-Sterling is Professor of Biology and Gender Studies in the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology and Biochemistry at Brown University. She is Chair of the Faculty Committee on Science & Technology Studies.

In addition to having served on the Brown faculty for more than 35 years, Anne Fausto-Sterling has been a visiting professor at a number of institutions in the US and abroad in departments of Biology, Medical Science, Gender Studies and Science Studies. A Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, she has received grants and fellowships in both the sciences and the humanities.

Author of scientific publications in developmental genetics and developmental ecology, Fausto-Sterling has achieved recognition for works that challenge entrenched scientific beliefs while engaging with the general public.

Professor Fausto-Sterling is applying dynamic systems theory to the study of human development. Newspapers are awash with reports of genes for this or that complex human trait (obesity, alcoholism, homosexuality, gender differences in math and science). A great divide exists between people who accept biological explanations of human difference and those who reject biology in favor of social explanations.

Her big ambition is to restructure dichotomous conversations--inside the academy, in public discourse, and ultimately in the framing of social policy--in order to enable an understanding of the inseparability of nature/nurture. Dynamic systems theory permits us to understand how cultural difference becomes bodily difference. Professor Fausto-Sterling's current case studies in this area examine sex differences in bone development and the emergence of gender differences in behavior in early childhood.

Abstract

Nature OR nurture? It’s the wrong question: bringing the debate about difference into a modern framework

It is time to stop framing the question of sex differences in terms of nature vs nurture. This “either-or” model has been superseded by a more dynamic and integrated approach that is often called “dynamic systems”. In this talk I will explain the basic principles of a dynamic systems approach and show how they can be applied to understanding human sex differentiation.