The binary representation of “female” and “male” brains on science and media

Abstract

Research studies that investigate the differences between “female” and “male” brain implicitly try to naturalize these categories that not only have biological components but also social and cultural components. It has been shown that scientific journals and media have a tendency to report more frequently those studies that confirm the binary interpretation of sex/gender as something dimorphic, fixed, and static. Nonetheless, when evidences are considered altogether, several inconsistencies are revealed and no major differences between the sexes/genders remained. Hence, the public debate should question those categories that we assume as natural in order to avoid essentialist and deterministic positions