Sex, gender and society

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"Everybody knows that men and women are different. But behind this knowledge lies a certain uneasiness: how different are they? What is the extent of the difference? What significance does it have for the way male and female behave and are treated in society? While the first questions are factual ones, the last is a question of value. In practice, of course, fact and value are not always separated, and the confusion between them has been crucial in the debate about sex differences. This debate has been carried on much more keenly during some historical periods than others. It seems to be revived at times when the existing roles and statuses of male and female are changing ... The enduring questions are these: does the source of the many differences between the sexes lie in biology or culture? If biology determines male and female roles, how does it determine them? How much influence does culture have? These questions are more meaningful now than they were in the previous debates about sex differences, for the simple reason that we are now able to disregard (if we wish) almost all the socalled consequences of the reproductive division between the sexes. Fertility control and the safe artificial feeding of infants enable couples to choose when they shall have babies, and who shall feed them. The former is an achievement of personal relevance for all women, while the latter is of potential (though usually underrated) relevance to both sexes, since it makes it possible to distribute both the work and the joy of childrearing between people regardless of their biological sex: that is, it could bring men back into the home." --Introduction.