Cameron's article is indeed an interesting read! It once again reminds me to be a more critical reader: it never occurs to me why other readings do not talk about the reasons of gender differences though I did feel some statements are lack of concrete evidence. She looks at the gender differences from a very new perspectives and ask the real questions of power and nature versus nurture.I love the way she rebut convincingly about each detail and substantiate her points. Like the way she points out Baron-Cohen is making a confused and contradictory view on women's and men's jobs.
However, she sounds a little harsh towards men. One point she made is that men are using the reputation as an excuse,like men are not good at housework. I don't really agree with that because I think many men are trying to understand women and to communicate more effectively. And in fact, I know a few guys who can cook or do housework much better than girls.
I enjoy very much on her argument that "women had a choice, but whatever choice they made, they paid a price". This reminds me many statements like, "oh, you don't really need to do a PhD, as a girl", "don't be too harsh on yourself, quit programming", or "at least you don't need to feed your husband". These seem to be consolations or good excuses, but they imply girls don't need/ cannot do some things. In China, there is a joke that female PhD are considered the third gender and those marry female PhD are the fourth. I believe these opinions do deter some girls from entering higher academic pursuit because it implies strong tendency of being single. One reason given to the statement is that girls tend to find guys with higher qualifications. But why must the husband has a higher qualification? What is wrong if a female PhD chooses a male with Bachelor degree and charisma? So if the girl chooses to pursuit higher degree, she risks having less choices on marriage. If not, she risks finding a less exciting job.
This seems to be true for taking care of babies too. Statistics show that there are very few women at high positions in corporations or government. One reason is not that women don't have the capabilities, but that they choose not to move up because they want to spend more time with the kids. So they can either choose their higher position or their family.
Well, on the other hand, men don't even have a choice. They are supposed to be strong, career-oriented and ambitious. In a certain sense, no choice may be a good thing such that you don't need to regret about your decisions later. But I would say it is still painful if you want to spend more time with your family but are forced to work to feed your family.
Though I think society imposes too much on gender differences, I am in doubt that women and men can truly be equal. Biologically, women carry babies and men are at least twice as strong as women. The natural characteristics give women a symbol of family orientation and men a symbol of power. Nevertheless, I am waiting for the new age with new technologies and perspectives to surprise me.
