Critiquing "Different but (Probably) Equal"

1. I would characterize Judson’s characters as at first skeptical that there are differences in the human male and female, but now it would seem that she is curious to see what those differences are.
2. The nurture view is supported when she tells how there was an increase in women in the orchestra due to blind rehearsals, and also when the grant applications were looked at without knowing the sex of the person. The nature view is supported by the examples of the jackdaws and the spoon worms.
3. The green spoon worm and the jackdaw are important to Judson’s argument because they show how an animal could be of the same species but differ so much. She says the interesting question involves “average intrinsic difference” and the extensiveness of “variation” because she would really like to know what the intrinsic difference really is and how much it leads to the variation of people. I believe she is inferring that if the average intrinsic difference is not significant then the variation occurs due to social influences.
4. Throughout the majority of the article Judson shows us how external factors have influenced the inequality of men and women. She has in the past been afraid to admit that there is indeed a true biological difference in the sexes, but after discovering the green spoon worm and the jackdaw she is now brave enough to endeavor to explain what really sets men and women apart.