Rationality is Gendered
Shared rationality is the common ground of scientific progress. However, some theorists have argued that this common ground may not be level, in that subtle assumptions embedded within lay views of rationality marginalize some would-be participants. Specifically, feminist philosophers have argued th...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
University of California Press
2019-11-01
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| Series: | Collabra: Psychology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.collabra.org/articles/274 |
| _version_ | 1818433375774441472 |
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| author | Olivia Pavco-Giaccia Martha Fitch Little Jason Stanley Yarrow Dunham |
| author_facet | Olivia Pavco-Giaccia Martha Fitch Little Jason Stanley Yarrow Dunham |
| author_sort | Olivia Pavco-Giaccia |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Shared rationality is the common ground of scientific progress. However, some theorists have argued that this common ground may not be level, in that subtle assumptions embedded within lay views of rationality marginalize some would-be participants. Specifically, feminist philosophers have argued that rationality is associated with male rather than female discourse. This claim has frequently been dismissed as incoherent, but a straightforward interpretation is readily available: The concept 'reason' is semantically associated with the concept 'male'. We support this hypothesis in four studies (total N > 900), finding that at both the explicit and implicit level, 'reason' is preferentially associated with 'male', 'feeling' is preferentially associated with 'female', male faces prime unrelated judgments of reason/rationality, and gendered associations are related to interest in academic disciplines as well as estimates of the (mis)representation of women within those disciplines. Implications for gender stereotyping and the representation of women in different fields are discussed. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-14T16:20:06Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-791b7340569147219d27fc65ba4199c6 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2474-7394 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-14T16:20:06Z |
| publishDate | 2019-11-01 |
| publisher | University of California Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Collabra: Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-791b7340569147219d27fc65ba4199c62022-12-21T22:54:49ZengUniversity of California PressCollabra: Psychology2474-73942019-11-015110.1525/collabra.274164Rationality is GenderedOlivia Pavco-Giaccia0Martha Fitch Little1Jason Stanley2Yarrow Dunham3Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USDepartment of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USDepartment of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USDepartment of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USShared rationality is the common ground of scientific progress. However, some theorists have argued that this common ground may not be level, in that subtle assumptions embedded within lay views of rationality marginalize some would-be participants. Specifically, feminist philosophers have argued that rationality is associated with male rather than female discourse. This claim has frequently been dismissed as incoherent, but a straightforward interpretation is readily available: The concept 'reason' is semantically associated with the concept 'male'. We support this hypothesis in four studies (total N > 900), finding that at both the explicit and implicit level, 'reason' is preferentially associated with 'male', 'feeling' is preferentially associated with 'female', male faces prime unrelated judgments of reason/rationality, and gendered associations are related to interest in academic disciplines as well as estimates of the (mis)representation of women within those disciplines. Implications for gender stereotyping and the representation of women in different fields are discussed.https://www.collabra.org/articles/274gender rolesgender stereotypingimplicit cognition |
| spellingShingle | Olivia Pavco-Giaccia Martha Fitch Little Jason Stanley Yarrow Dunham Rationality is Gendered Collabra: Psychology gender roles gender stereotyping implicit cognition |
| title | Rationality is Gendered |
| title_full | Rationality is Gendered |
| title_fullStr | Rationality is Gendered |
| title_full_unstemmed | Rationality is Gendered |
| title_short | Rationality is Gendered |
| title_sort | rationality is gendered |
| topic | gender roles gender stereotyping implicit cognition |
| url | https://www.collabra.org/articles/274 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT oliviapavcogiaccia rationalityisgendered AT marthafitchlittle rationalityisgendered AT jasonstanley rationalityisgendered AT yarrowdunham rationalityisgendered |