David Eberhards "Det stora könsexperimentet"

Metoodebatten har rasat i månader – men den är ofullständig utan evolutionsbiologiska insikter om manlighet, våld och sexualitet. Ändå är det attitydförändringar som är avgörande för att bekämpa övergrepp. Det kräver att man tar hänsyn till kunskap om hur sexuellt våld varierar mellan olika länder, tider och situationer

Sent kommer jag att glömma ett möte hon tog med mig på, till genusvetarna på Stockholms universitet. De hade arrangerat något de kallade ”Dialog med biologin” dit de bjudit in biologer som var intresserade av kön och könsroller. Birgitta öppnade med att beskriva ett misslyckat experiment från en israelisk kibbutz, där man uppfostrat män och kvinnor lika men där barnen ändå anammat traditionella könsroller när de växte upp. Detta, menade Birgitta, var i alla fall lite evidens för att könsroller delvis var medfödda – ett av få verkliga experiment som var utförda på frågan. Som diskussionsöppnare misslyckades detta spektakulärt. Det visade sig att ”dialog” inte var något genusvetarna haft i åtanke, utan de satte istället igång med en utskällning av Birgitta över att hon överhuvudtaget kunde tänka tanken att något i våra könsroller var medfött. Biologi, fick vi veta, hade inget förklaringsvärde inom genusvetenskapen. (Lite märkligt för mig att höra, som just höll på att doktorera på evolutionen av könsskillnader.)

Mitt eget agerande i denna situation är inget jag är stolt över, för jag blev närmast rädd över ilskan vi mötte – nästan chockad. Men Birgitta lät dem hållas och ledde dem – sokratiskt – in i motsägelse efter motsägelse. Visst är könsroller till stor del socialt konstruerade, men helt och hållet? Nej, evidensen håller inte för att hävda något sådant. Feminism, menade Birgitta, ligger inte nödvändigtvis i att utplåna könsroller, utan i att dessa inte ska spela någon roll för hur vi behandlas i samhället.

Two findings emerged from our analysis. First, if we simply look to differences between men and women, we find support for biological expectations. On average, men were more interested in uncommitted sexual relationships than women were.

But if we look to how the responses of men and women are influenced by the sex ratio, some interesting patterns emerged. When women were abundant, men were the cads we often expect them to be. They had many sexual partners, and yet still wanted more!

However, as the sex ratio became more male-biased, men’s interest in short-term relationships waned. In fact, in the communities with the most surplus men, men’s and women’s preferences were indistinguishable - both men and women desired long-term, committed relationships with a single partner.

Women will cry 4,680 times over their adult lifetime — more than twice as much as men, a study has found.

Sad TV shows or books, tiredness and arguments with their partner mean the average woman will cry six times a month — or 72 times a year.

In comparison, men will shed a tear just three times a month.

But the study, by the makers of eyedrop Hycosan Fresh, found men are less embarrassed about crying in front of others, with four in 10 claiming they wouldn’t be bothered about shedding a tear in public compared to just a third of women.

Women spend the equivalent of 16 months of their lives crying, according to a new poll.
7:00AM BST 12 Aug 2009
Researchers found that between birth and the age of 78 a woman will cry for more than 12,000 hours, for reasons including hunger as a baby to falling out with a partner when older.

During their first year they will shed tears for three hours a day when they need changing, feeding or entertaining.

When they grow older, teenage girls cry for approximately 2 hours and 13 minutes a week and by their mid 20s they will cry for as much as 2.24 hours a week after falling out with their partner, watching a soppy film or losing a loved one.

Sex Change Hormonal Treatments Alter Brain Chemistry Reports new study in Biological Psychiatry

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Researchers at the Medical University of Vienna, led by senior authors Dr. Siegfried Kasper and Dr. Rupert Lanzenberger, show that administration of the male hormone testosterone in female-to-male transsexuals raises brain levels of SERT, the protein that transports the chemical messenger serotonin into nerve cells.

In contrast, male-to-female transsexuals who received a testosterone blocker and the female hormone estrogen showed decreased levels of this protein in the brain.

SERT plays an important role in the treatment of mood and anxiety disorders, as many common antidepressants, such as Prozac, block its activity by inhibiting serotonin reuptake. In addition, some genetics studies have suggested that higher levels of serotonin transporter may increase resilience to stress and reduce risk for stress and mood disorders.

Because women are twice as likely to be diagnosed with depression as men, these changes in the levels of SERT are consistent with the increased risk for mood and anxiety disorders in females relative to males.

Lanzenberger added, “These results may explain why testosterone improves symptoms in some forms of depression. Our study also increases our knowledge on the role of sex hormones in sex differences of mood disorders.”

Overall, these findings suggest that when people switch from female to male, their biology changes in a way that is consistent with a reduced risk for mood and anxiety disorders, whereas the reverse happens when males switch to females.

“This study is the first to show changes in brain chemistry associated with the hormonal treatments administered in the sex change process,” said Dr. John Krystal, Editor of Biological Psychiatry. “It provides new insight into the ways that the hormonal differences between men and women influence mood and the risk for mood disorders.”

After several months of being on T, the mood swings calmed down. Long term, they’ve pretty much disappeared except for extenuating circumstances. One of the most significant changes for me is that in order to “vent” my emotions it has become imperative for me long term to participate in routine intense physical exercise like HIIT and weightlifting. Before I went on testosterone I was very emotional and very prone to losing patience and blowing up. This was unfortunate because for many years I worked in electronics repair and found myself doing tedious repair tasks. Pre-T, I would get frustrated with tasks like this and sometimes break or throw what I was fixing. In those moments I was so consumed by rage that I could not walk away. Now, when I work on a tedious task and I start to get frustrated I am able to walk away. Whenever I am angry at all now, I am able to walk away and take a breather. Part of this is an emotional change in which I am generally less obsessive about things. While exercise may be helping this, I have been routinely active throughout my life and still experienced “rage-like” reactions — it has been being on testosterone that has primarily moderated this.

The other significant difference I have noticed is the difficulty in crying. This is not placebo effect, it’s real. There have been numerous times that I felt “emotional” since being on T but have felt that my emotions hadn’t added up to the ability to cry. When describing this to friends I liken it to an “emotional bucket”. My emotional bucket has changed such that it seems daily events add to the bucket but there is never that “last drop” that drips into it causing it to overflow and for tears to come. This is what makes it imperative for me to work out — while the tears come less easily I am able to reduce anxiety and the effects of this through exercise.

Downsides Post-T: significantly harder to cry, I badly want to, because I feel it would help me to relieve stress.