Culture, Biology And Women's Evolution

June 09, 1999|By Cassandra West.

NAME: Helen Fisher

BACKGROUND: A Rutgers University anthropologist, Fisher's field work requires sifting through mounds of journals, publications and data. Her biological-cultural studies are interesting not so much for what they tell about the past but more for what they can predict about the future, specifically, the future of women. In her new book, "The First Sex" (Random House, $25.95), she explains how women's "natural talents" are helping them change the world--propelling them from what Simone de Beauvoir saw as "second sex" status into roles that, in vital areas, will put them first.

Q: You use anthropology as the basis of many of the conclusions you draw?

A: I use anthropology, but I also use a lot of psychology, sociology, neuroscience, genetics. I start out with a question and I go wherever I can find the answer. With this book, I had no agenda. I knew two things. I knew that an outstanding trend of the 20th Century was that women were pouring into the job market around the world. Everybody knows that. And the other thing I knew is that the sexes are not alike. There are a great many, on average, gender differences, and I think that these gender differences evolved. They are encoded in brain physiology, in hormones. So my question was: What impact are women going to have on medicine, law, non-profits, communications, education, corporations, government, etc.? The biggest surprise to me was I began to discover that many sectors of the economy are changing in ways that actually need the female brain. For example, we're about to have 500 channels on television. Now who's going to do all that talking? A woman's ability to pronounce words and to find the right word rapidly goes up in the middle of the monthly menstrual cycle, when estrogen levels peak. There are so many studies of language skills that illustrate that women are, on average, more skilled. They're simply more verbal.

Q: What do you foresee for women moving into the political arena? Will the skills you list help them rise there?

A: No, I don't think so. They're not rising in government, but they're rising in civil society, in all the non-profits, and the non-profits are becoming so powerful that they're beginning to sway the government. Ten percent of the Senate is now women and 13 percent of the House of Representatives is now women and we are going to see some exceptional women moving into government. But the difference between men and women is that men start in their 20s trying to work their way up, whereas women don't really start being interested in politics and trying to get into politics until middle-age. And by that time, they can become extremely powerful in cities and regionally, but it's too late for the vast majority of them to work their way to the top in government.

Q: So you think there's a correlation between a woman's testosterone level and her desire for accomplishment?

A: Yes, I think so. That is the pivotal chapter of my book ("The First Sex"), "Tomorrow Belongs to Women," and in it I say, "With menopause, estrogen levels go down, unmasking levels of testosterone." As it turns out, around the world, women become more powerful in middle age. In every single society that anthropologists have looked at, women begin to become more important in business or they begin to start going into politics. Or they become religious leaders. What's interesting about that is that right now we have this enormous Baby Boom generation, not only in America but in Western Europe. By the year 2005, 50 million women in America are going to go through menopause, and this is a tidal wave of women who are educated, well-connected and experienced. The trends I trace throughout ("The First Sex")--of the impact women will have on parts of the job market--(are) going to accelerate.

Q: Amazing.

A: And by the way, I think it is good for men as well as women. I don't regard this as a threat to men at all. I think women bring different talents to the job market that are going to complement men's talents. I do not think that men are going to be displaced.

Q: As an anthropologist, do you think this is just a natural evolutionary change?

A: Yes. I don't think it has to do with the women's movement. In fact, I don't even discuss the women's movement. I think the women's movement is a reaction, a response to economic realities.