Rethinking Women's Biology, By Ruth Hubbard

In her article, “Rethinking Women’s Biology,” Ruth Hubbard (2014) argues that men and women are limited by society and its political views because of their sex, and should stop because one’s ability to achieve something has nothing to do with their biological makeup. She uses science about the human body and societal views to construct her argument that neither a man or woman is a man or woman just simply because they are born male or female, in addition, she dates back to the nineteenth century to discuss how a woman’s ability to be educated had been determined by the functions of her body. Hubbard then gives examples that show how people distinguish women and men’s ability in society. She ties up her claim by ending with how a man and woman being solely placed in a society based off of sex is a problem because a person’s

For example, when she explains how boys are traditionally encouraged to do the heavy lifting while women are encouraged to do a less physical activity that challenges their strength this is an example of a gender established roles (49). Here one might have been tempted to think that sex and gender is being used interchangeably, but it is not. When an activity is related to one's physical ability due to the fact that they are either male or female then that action is being called for based off of gender roles. In order for readers to fully understand her article, they need to see that Hubbard gives examples that clearly demonstrate either a sex or gender role. Hubbard’s article requires that readers develop an understanding of how each example further supports her claim mentioned earlier in the paper. An example of gender roles is brought up in the case where boys are encouraged to do heavy lifting simply because they are