IPMAT Indore 2019
VA
Reading Comprehension
Easy
The perennial debate over gender differences threatens to remain inconclusive. Stereotypes pertaining to male superiority and female submissiveness could be traced to earlier ages where assigned roles were needed as survival measures. But, can we today see a swing away from these stereotypes, or have they established a stranglehold on our perceptions? In this gendered world, we continue to live with notions that one's gender determines one's skills and preferences, from toys and colours to career choices. So the girl child will be presented with a Barbie doll, while the boy child will receive a Lego set.Does that mean that our brains are different? This myth has been exploded by a British professor of cognitive neuroimaging. Her research attempts to establish how these stereotypes mould our ideas of ourselves. She examines how science has been misinterpreted or misused to ask the wrong questions, instead of challenging the status quo. She urges us to move beyond a binary view of people's brains and instead to see these as highly individualised, profoundly adaptable, and full of unbounded potential. Her conclusive findings establish that no brain differences can be found that are solely gender related. In other words, modern neuroscientists have identified no decisive category-defining differences between the brains of men and women.As a result of these findings we owe it to ourselves to dump the myths and look at ourselves afresh. We need to recognise that the male and female brain debate is a distraction, besides being based on inaccuracies. It is possibly harmful too, because it can be used as a hook to justify saying there is no point in girls doing science because they do not have a science brain; or compelling boys to opt for science because their brains are shaped for that subject. It can also condemn boys for being emotional, as this is seen as a feminine trait. And, most dangerous of all, to proclaim that boys, not girls, are meant to lead.
By referring to the world as 'gendered' the writer wants to convey that
By referring to the world as 'gendered' the writer wants to convey that
Correct Option: 2
- Gender differences can be detected right from childhood. - While the passage mentions that gendered toys are given to children, it does not state that actual differences can be detected from childhood. It focuses on stereotypes rather than inherent differences.
- Society continues to be fixated on gender stereotypes. - This is supported by the passage. The author talks about how "we continue to live with notions that one's gender determines one's skills and preferences," indicating an ongoing fixation on gender stereotypes.
- One's gender is bound to determine one's abilities. - The passage argues against this idea, stating that there are no decisive category-defining brain differences based on gender. It challenges the notion that gender determines abilities.
- The debate on gender differences will never be resolved. - While the passage acknowledges that the debate remains inconclusive, this option does not directly relate to the term "gendered" as used by the writer.