On The Relative Intelligence Of Women A Review Of Two Essays Essays

On The Relative Intelligence Of Women: A Review Of Two Essays During times in which there is increased social concern over the relative equality of men and women in various areas of study, there is a common desire to determine whether there is an appreciable difference in intelligence in relation to gender. Two essays which document various aspects of the relative intelligence of men and women are ?Women and the Mismeasure of Thought? by Judith Genova, and ?The Variability Hypothesis? by Stephanie Shields. Genova seeks to criticize measuring the difference in intelligence between men and women. Genova was unsuccessful with this article in that the questions she raised were not satisfactorily answered, and there was an overall lack of citation. ?The Variability Hypothesis? is an essay detailing the history and arguments against the purported greater variance in male intelligence. Though the argument of Shields' paper is to some extent banal, her criticism of the variability hypothesis is extensive and satisfactory. The introduction of Genova's essay is a criticism of historically accepted measurements of intelligence. In the past using brain size as a measure of intelligence was not altogether unacceptable. When this practice was discredited by the obvious lack of intellectual superiority of whales and elephants, a new physical measure of intelligence was sought. Other body dimensions were given brief consideration as measures of intelligence until the example of Negroes, Australians, and Eskimos denied that theory. Genova argues that prejudice over which groups are socially allowed to be intelligent leads to bad science in determining measures of intelligence. I agree that the highly stereotypical practice of craniometry has no relevance to modern studies of male and female intelligence, though Genova fails to adequately prove the existence of such stereotypes in modern science. Genova cites the example of hemispheric specialization studies as an area of science affected by this same kind of social prejudice. Though traditionally men are seen as analytical (left-brained) while women hold a more holistic mindset (right-brain), studies have indicated that the exact opposite is true. Genova passes off the results of these studies as due to social influences where she has no right. According to Genova, this disparity in traditional views and modern studies can only be explained by intense prejudice on the part of the writers of such studies. On the assumption that this is true, Genova then seeks to hypothesize about such the computer as a trivial tool threatening to belittle the classically analytical intelligence of men, and explains that the newfound holistic intelligence of men is an attempt to avoid that belittlement. Genova explains the newfound analytical characteristic of women as an ?attack? based on ?keeping them out of the world of science and triviali zing their achievements in any field as routine and studied? (Genova 103). I would argue, however, that the modern stereotype of female intelligence would still place them as the more creative and holistic of the two sexes. Genova's comment on computers has no relevance whatsoever to male intelligence. If computers were a threat to male intelligence and a complement to female intelligence, it would make sense that men would be resistant toward the proliferation of computers, yet this is not at all the case. Conversely, computer science is a field dominated by men. Only 7.8% of computer science and computer engineering faculties are women, and a miserable 2.7% of tenured professors are female (Frenkel 38). Genova invalidates her own argument by professing that modern stereotypes about the role of women have led to views of decreased female intelligence. She is applying a stereotype of her own by implying without evidence that modern studies advocating a difference in male and female intellects are conducted and analyzed by men with overpowering prejudices. Genova's next argument addresses the comparison of brain lateralization to general intelligence. Brain lateralization is the term for the amount of specialization in the two hemispheres of the brain. A more lateral individual will have more specialization within each hemisphere (for instance, the left brain will control verbal skills more exclusively), while a less lateral or ?bilateral? individual will have no specific location of certain skills. Genova proposes that in general there is an accepted concept of greater laterality in male brains leading to greater intelligence.

#65279;Tchaikovsky

#65279;Tchaikovsky Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky Peter Ilyick Tchaikovsky was born on May 7th, 1840 in Votkinsk, Russia. He was born second in a family of five sons. Tchaikovsky seemed to have a natural talent for music since he was young. At age five he started to take Piano lessons from his teacher Maria Markovna Palchikova and soon became better than her. As a pre-teenager, he attended school at St.Petersberg. His mother died in 1854 due to cholera. Peter again took piano lessons, this time with Rudolf Kundinger. In his youth, he continued to study law, attending the School of Jurisprudence although he found it quite boring and stopped. Tchaikovsky became rebellious to his family when he quit his job as a clerk for the Ministry of Justice, and began to study music at St. Petersberg Conservatory. Among his hobbies at the time were going to the Italian Operas (which were very popular in Russia at the time) and listening to Mozart.Saint Petersburg Conservatory, where Rimsky-Korsak...Due to his lack of educa tion though, at age 21, he could not tell how many symphonies Beethoven had composed.Tchaikovsky was first tutored by Zaremba, who taught him harmony and theory, although at the time Peter did not know if he wanted to be a musician or not. Anton Rubinstein was his next teacher, who taught him composition. There he composed the overture to "The Storm" and Overture in F (which he also conducted). In 1866 he moved to Moscow accepting a teaching job in a new conservatory along with Nicholas Rubinstein, Anton's brother. There he composed his first symphony, "Winter Dreams"(in G Minor). This symphony was significant because it was composed at night where he was having insomnia, along with headaches and hallucinations. This is why he was said to have never composed at night ever again.In 1874, Tchaikovsky composed the concerto in B flat Minor, which he was going to dedicate to his teacher Nicholas, but Nicholas criticized his work. He later composes symphony number 4 in F Minor. Tchaikovsk y was married to Anotonina Ivanovna Milyukov, but they later separated. Peter Tchaikovsky moved to a country house of at Maidanovo, and continued his Manfred, with help from Balakirev. At age 35, he produced what might me his most famous opera, Swan Lake in 1875.In 1888, Tchaikovsky made a highly successful international concert tour as conductor, meeting at Leipzig Brahms, Grieg and others, at Prague Dvorak, at Paris Gounod, Massenet, and Paderewski. Finishes his Fifth Symphony, in E Minor. Three years later, he Visits America, and conducts his own compositions at the ceremonies opening Carnegie Hall, New York. In 1890, he had the production of the opera Sleeping Beauty. In 1892, he has the first performance of the Nutcracker Suite.In the last years of his life, Peter returned to his country house at Klin in January of 1893, and begins his Symphony No.6, the "Pathetic." He later went to England in June to receive an honorary degree from Cambridge University, together with other fam ous composers like Boito, Bruch, Saint-Saens and Grieg. The Sixth Symphony performed under his direction at the St.Petersburg on Oct. 28, without marked success. In November 6, 1893 Tchaikovsky died. Reasons for his death are controversial. Some say that he developed cholera and dies in St.Petersburg others say that he committed suicide by taking poison to escape accusations of homosexuality.Operas Names Dates Composed The Voyevode 1867-68 Undine 1869 The Oprichnik 1870-72 Vakula the Smith 1874, 1875 Eugenen Onegin 1877-78 The Maid of Orleans 1878-79, 1882 Mazeppa 1881-83 Tcherevichky Oxana's Caprices 1885 Queen of Spades 1890 Iolanthe 1891 Ballets Names Dates Composed Swan Lake 1875-76 The Sleeping Beauty 1875-76 The Nutcracker 1891-92 Dmitri the Pretender introduction to Act 1 1870 Snow Maiden 1873 domovoy scene in The Voyevode 1886 Hamlet 1891