NPR

Nature, Nurture, And Our Evolving Debates About Gender

What does it mean to be a boy and what does it mean to be a girl? We delve into debates over gender – and explore how some people are moving beyond labels and building gender identities of their own.
How much does biology shape who we are, and how much is determined by culture and the environment in which we live?

When a baby is born, one of the first questions people ask the parents is this: "What is it?" "Gender is unquestionably the most salient feature of a person's identity," For some two decades, Eliot has pondered and researched the origins of gender differences between boys and girls. She says she didn't start by looking at boys' brains and girls' brains. She started with an insight about brains. More than any other organ, the brain is uniquely adaptable, designed to change in response to the environment.

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from NPR

NPR5 min readIndustries
China Makes Cheap Electric Vehicles. Why Can't American Shoppers Buy Them?
American drivers want cheap EVs. Chinese automakers are building them. But you can't buy them in the U.S., thanks to tariffs in the name of U.S. jobs and national security. Two car shoppers weigh in.
NPR2 min readInternational Relations
Netanyahu's Cabinet Votes To Close Al Jazeera Offices In Israel
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that his government has voted unanimously to shut down the local offices of Qatar-owned broadcaster Al Jazeera.
NPR7 min read
Unions Double-down In The Deep South: Can Alabama Pave The Way?
Three high-profile labor disputes have unfolded in central Alabama over the past several years, with Amazon warehouse workers, coal miners and autoworkers all speaking out for change.

Related Books & Audiobooks