O'Connor, Cliodhna and Joffe, Helene (2014) Gender on the Brain: A Case Study of Science Communication in the New Media Environment. PLoS ONE, 9 (10). e110830. ISSN 1932-6203

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Abstract

Neuroscience research on sex difference is currently a controversial field, frequently accused of purveying a ‘neurosexism’ that functions to naturalise gender inequalities. However, there has been little empirical investigation of how information about neurobiological sex difference is interpreted within wider society. This paper presents a case study that tracks the journey of one high-profile study of neurobiological sex differences from its scientific publication through various layers of the public domain. A content analysis was performed to ascertain how the study was represented in five domains of communication: the original scientific article, a press release, the traditional news media, online reader comments and blog entries. Analysis suggested that scientific research on sex difference offers an opportunity to rehearse abiding cultural understandings of gender. In both scientific and popular contexts, traditional gender stereotypes were projected onto the novel scientific information, which was harnessed to demonstrate the factual truth and normative legitimacy of these beliefs. Though strains of misogyny were evident within the readers’ comments, most discussion of the study took pains to portray the sexes’ unique abilities as equal and ‘complementary’. However, this content often resembled a form of benevolent sexism, in which praise of women’s social-emotional skills compensated for their relegation from more esteemed trait-domains, such as rationality and productivity. The paper suggests that embedding these stereotype patterns in neuroscience may intensify their rhetorical potency by lending them the epistemic authority of science. It argues that the neuroscience of sex difference does not merely reflect, but can actively shape the gender norms of contemporary society.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	Published under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Anyone may copy, distribute or reuse these articles, as long as the author and original source are properly cited. Citation: O’Connor C, Joffe H (2014) Gender on the Brain: A Case Study of Science Communication in the New Media Environment. PLoS ONE 9(10): e110830. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0110830
Keywords:	Gender; Brain; Case Study; Science Communication; New Media Environment; neurosexism; neuroscience; sex difference;
Academic Unit:	Faculty of Science and Engineering > Psychology
Item ID:	6679
Identification Number:	https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0110830
Depositing User:	Cliodhna O'Connor
Date Deposited:	16 Dec 2015 10:39
Journal or Publication Title:	PLoS ONE
Publisher:	Public Library of Science
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	http://www.plosone.org/
Use Licence:	This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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