Introduction

Neurofeminism: Feminist critiques of research on sex/gender differences in the neurosciences

“…Additionally, scholars use these concepts as a starting point for developing frameworks on how to include the variable sex/gender in neuroscientific research in a more sensitive, neurofeminist-informed way. Bluhm et al (2012) argues that sex/gender should be treated as a "complex, multilevel, hierarchical structure" (p. 551) in research. The first concrete proposition to register sex/gender in a more complex, multiparametric way comes from Kaiser (2014).…”

“…They have argued that even contemporary neuroscience research is influenced by and reproduces sexist biases in various ways. The work aimed at critically analyzing and responding to this entanglement between sexist ideology and neuroscience can be subsumed under the term neurofeminism, a phrase which Bluhm et al (2012) first popularized. Due to the seductive allure of neuroscientific "facts," neurofeminist work is of great importance to limit the dissemination and uncritical acceptance of neurosexist claims.…”

“…The central effort of feminist science studies scholars has been to "carefully explore the myriad ways in which sexist biases [affect] the nature and practice of science" (Tuana, 1989). According to Bluhm et al (2012), feminist neuroscientists were among the first to analyze their own field's theories and practices of knowledge production through a feminist lens. Ruth Bleier was one of these revolutionary scholars and contributed significantly to a critical examination of the foundations of modern biology and neuroscience.…”

Feminist theory in Feminism & Psychology [Part I]: Dealing with differences and negotiating the biological

“…Bleier, 1984; Fausto-Sterling, 1992, 2012; Jordan-Young, 2010). As well, it did not offer a clear solution as one can find the terms sex and gender used in a variety of inconsistent ways across the disciplines with these interests (Bluhm, Jacobson, & Maibom, 2012). Within psychology in particular, it introduced an essentialist perspective that posited social processes, socialization, or social learning, which led to relatively fixed internal cognitive structures or traits (e.g.…”

“…Moreover, in recent times, a number of alternative approaches that emphasize the interconnectedness of the biological, the social, and the cultural have been proposed (e.g. Bluhm et al., 2012; Garcia & Heywood, 2016; Hekman, 2010; Joel, 2016; Joel & Fausto-Sterling, 2016; Jordan-Young, 2010). Within these new frameworks, the biological is no longer understood as natural or innate – it is routinely changed by experience and hence cannot be separated from the social and culture.…”