UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Thursday, February 23. 1995
5A
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Scientists ponder gender mytns
By Robert Allen
Kansan staff writer
Gender myths just won't die, no matter how hard they are struck down.
That is what Anne Fausto-Sterling, a developmental geneticist and feminist philosopher from Brown University, said to a crowd of about 100 in a speech last night at the Kansas Room in the Kansas Union.
"It's the sort of thing which keeps coming up over and over again," she said. "Why do these ideas have such resilience?"
Fausto-Sterling's speech centered on why gender myths have been accepted as facts. Scientists are searching for biological explanations of these differences, which perpetuated the myths, she said.
Fausto-Sterling said that the idea of classifying gender behaviors and characteristics could be traced to the early European exploration of the world.
"Europeans needed a system of classification because of the unknown plants and animals brought back from exploration trips," she said.
These previously unknown forms of life caused scientists to form a new classification system. Mammal, which is derived from the Latin word for breast, was incorporated into this new system.
New plants and animals were frequently separated by sex and gender. This eventually contributed to today's need to separate people into gender roles.
For example, scientists have tried to discover differences in the symmetry of the human brain, particularly in the corpus callosum, that might explain differences in men and women.
differences in its function, structure cognition and pre- and postnatal effects, among others.
Fausto-Sterling said that today, scientists were using biology to explain gender differences that existed in our culture.
Matt Mangus, St. Louis, Mo., senior attended the speech to improve his study of architecture.
This multitude of possibilities for gender differences causes us to believe the myths, even when a possibility is ruled out, Fausto-Sterling said.
Differences in the brain can point to
If one myth is proven false, she said,
all the myths are interconnected.
Jeanna Moyer, Cleveland, Ohio,
graduate student, was glad to hear
Fausto-Sterling speak.
"Architecture is all about order," he said. "By ordering things, we are very masculine."
"She has a lot of valuable insight on the culture of science," she said. "I'm double majoring in biology and philosophy, so this is pretty much what I'm studying."
Mangus wanted to learn about feminine thought, which according to gender roles is not about order.
Nontraditional students juggle many jobs
By Eduardo A. Molina Kansan staff writer
Studying algebra, biology and Spanish at the University of Kansas is just one part of the job for Connie Craig.
Going home to Topeka and dealing with a husband, three daughters and a grandson is another, and no less important, part of her job.
For Craig, a sophomore majoring in biology, her family responsibilities and age don't discourage her from coming to college 20 years after graduating from high school.
Craig and two other nontraditional women students spoke last night in a
panel at the Pine Room in the Kansas Union. They shared their experiences to show effective ways to succeed at KU, despite their unusual status.
The three students fit in the nontraditional student category, which includes students who are at least three years older than their peers, veterans, students who have children or are married, students who commute more than 10 miles each way to school and students who had a break in their education.
Andrea Lewis, Denver freshman and a single mother, said some University policies about missing classes were her biggest problem.
"Some professors try to understand that you can't be in class because your daughter is sick, but others don't," she said. "I love being a mom. For me, parenting is my first job, and school is the second."
Renee Jaenicke, Lawrence graduate student and mother of an eight-year-old, said one of the biggest problems for nontraditional students was the discrimination they faced when trying to get a job.
"I got a scholarship in accounting because of being one of the top 50 students in the country, but I don't have a job," she said. "Some companies refused to even interview me."
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