Inferior: How Science Got Women Wrong and the New Research That's Rewriting the Story is a 2017 book by science journalist Angela Saini. The book discusses the effect of sexism on scientific research, and how that sexism influences social beliefs.Inferior was launched in June 2017 at the Royal Academy of Engineering. The book was published by Beacon Press in the United States and Fourth Estate Books in the United Kingdom.
Recommended by a friend following some earlier reading (Heart of Maleness) this is an interesting feminist angle on popular science tropes. It takes aim at the science, from Darwin onwards, that's been used to "prove" women are inferior to men, and that sex differences are somehow innate and unavoidable. Across a range of different areas, Saini exposes how some big scientific findings are based on very shaky ground. Weak science and patriarchal beliefs have led people to take tiny studies and blow them up out of all importance to reinforce stereotypes, and those working to correct and challenge these assumptions are left to the fringes. Ocasionnally a bit frustrating as she takes her time to debunk flaws that are obvious in the way she describes a study, and she perhaps gives some people a bit too much of the benefit of the doubt, but still well worth reading.
In Inferior, Angela Saini looks at the bias at work in science, specifically when it comes to studies in sex difference. From Darwin's frankly appalling (but of his time) attitude to women to modern day studies, Saini looks at their evidence and takes apart theories that have been used to demonstrate how women are the inferior sex.
As a woman, it's hard not to be outraged by some of the interpretations of results. It often appears that the male scientists are using their work to reinforce their own prejudices, making leaps from the evidence to come up with theories that fit their own world view. They don't seem very scientific.
I am willing to accept that there are small differences in our brains, but I don't understand how someone calling themself a scientist can go from seeing more baby girls look at a photo of a face and more boys …
In Inferior, Angela Saini looks at the bias at work in science, specifically when it comes to studies in sex difference. From Darwin's frankly appalling (but of his time) attitude to women to modern day studies, Saini looks at their evidence and takes apart theories that have been used to demonstrate how women are the inferior sex.
As a woman, it's hard not to be outraged by some of the interpretations of results. It often appears that the male scientists are using their work to reinforce their own prejudices, making leaps from the evidence to come up with theories that fit their own world view. They don't seem very scientific.
I am willing to accept that there are small differences in our brains, but I don't understand how someone calling themself a scientist can go from seeing more baby girls look at a photo of a face and more boys look at a mobile, to interpreting that means women will enjoy coffee mornings, being carers and manning suicide hotlines. Whilst, you guessed it, men will enjoy things that will result in better paid and more respected careers.
Many of the studies used in the book are observations from other species. Some of it is fascinating but it also shows how unreliable comparing animal behaviour to human behaviour is. You can find both sides of the debate displayed if you look far enough.
I love how the book tries to explain the ways that women are stronger, with our better immune systems and longer lives, our pickiness over mates and contributions to a community that mean we cannot be less evolved than men. Sex differences are so slight that cultural and societal influences must explain most the gaps between the genders seen today.
Studies into the changes in the brains of London cabbies, help us understand the elasticity of the brain and that comparing adult brains of men and women can't be relied on to prove an underlying biological difference. If women's lives are shaped by a society that oppresses them, when men have freedom to do whatever, the theory is that their brains will adapt differently.
Inferior is very accessible science writing and I highly recommend it, especially to young women embarking on a career in STEM. It will arm you well for any man who should argue that biology means you are less capable.
