The genre of Stephen Jay Gould's Women's Brains is nonfiction. Gould includes many references and quotations from the findings of different scientists. This information is definitely credible as it comes from leading scientists in anthropology. However, it is all from the late 1800s so there is most likely more recent research which Gould does not address. This could be because he primarily wants to explain past misconceptions of women's intelligence. I was shocked to find that leading scientists considered women to be so inferior, when in contemporary times women are usually considered equally intelligent. Being a woman myself, I liked that Gould, being a man, wrote positively of women and refuted the conclusions drawn by previous scientists who thought that women were inferior.
Gould wrote more about his opponent's argument than his own, which helps him to establish ethos. Also, he probably did this because most people agree with him so there wasn't much argument needed. I can connect a lot of the information in this passage to what I've learned in AP U.S. History. Back in the 1800s many people believed in the idea of separate spheres, where women were confined to running things in the home while only men were allowed out into the world. Men, like the scientists Gould references, thought that women weren't capable even of voting. I am so glad that we have come as far as we are today and that women aren't widely considered inferior anymore.
Works Cited:
Gould, Stephen Jay. "Women's Brains." Web. 15 Oct. 2015.
Gould wrote more about his opponent's argument than his own, which helps him to establish ethos. Also, he probably did this because most people agree with him so there wasn't much argument needed. I can connect a lot of the information in this passage to what I've learned in AP U.S. History. Back in the 1800s many people believed in the idea of separate spheres, where women were confined to running things in the home while only men were allowed out into the world. Men, like the scientists Gould references, thought that women weren't capable even of voting. I am so glad that we have come as far as we are today and that women aren't widely considered inferior anymore.
Works Cited:
Gould, Stephen Jay. "Women's Brains." Web. 15 Oct. 2015.