I'm a sociology grad student. It's highly improper to court the come-ons of
sociobiology. And to some extent I completely understand all the proverbial hackle-raising. If taken to certain places, the theory does risk
Social Darwinism. Some [mostly male] proponents have even attempted to
justify fixed gender roles on supposed biological, evolutionary bases (to the point of, at one extreme, claiming that
a certain violent, predatory behaviour is 'hard-wired' in men). But even I sometimes grow weary of the naysaying coming so often from the very bosoms - sociology and feminism - in which I nestle myself these days.
To be perfectly honest, I loathe the whole
nature vs. nurture 'debate'. Mostly because it's yet another one of those typical binaries or
dualisms that Western intellectual discourse still can't kick the habit of getting into. We have to be the most
black-and-white, down-the-line, everything has only two sides kind of
culture in the whole sweep of human history. And yet we keep thinking this is a reliable measure for understanding the world. Sigh.
Enlightenment anachronisms die hard. Very hard.
