Scholar Multiplies Gender Studies

The degree to which scholars can get creative with math can be truly breathtaking. “’How many genders or sexes are there?’ Jaak Panksepp asks his students,” in Stephen T. Asma’s recounting in The Chronicle Review. “Panksepp, who is the father of affective neuroscience and currently Baily Endowed Chair of Animal Well-Being Science at Washington State University, waits patiently for them to overcome their confusion and venture the obvious answer: ‘Two.’”

“No, there are at least four, and probably many more,” Panskepp claims. “The standard setup is, of course, a male brain in a male body or a female brain in a female body, but we regularly find a brain-body mismatch; feminized brains in masculinized bodies and vice versa,” Asma explains.

Asma himself is a pro­fes­sor of phi­los­o­phy and a fellow of the Research Group in Mind, Science, and Culture at Co­lum­bi­a College in Chi­ca­go.

Malcolm A. Kline is the Executive Director of Accuracy in Academia.

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