Analyzing My Text's Cultural Setting

Bye, Kent, "Core Values and Ethics" 09/16/09 via Flickr, Creative Commons License

The article I am focusing on was published April 1st, 2014, in the U.S., and presumably in California where Cahill resides and teaches. It is important to ask an answer questions about the context of an opinionated piece, as the context can help the reader further understand the piece and the reason for the tone the author employs in the piece.

Questions (answers) we might ask when analyzing the text's relationship to its social and cultural setting:

1. The major values that play a role in this specific debate are the values regarding women, sexism, and gender/sex equality, especially in the field of science, medicine, and research. By saying there is an inherent difference between men and women, scientists challenge the norms and values that stand for equality of men and women.

2. The text directly addresses these cultural beliefs and values, not through some sort of metaphorical narrative. The text mentions the values using cultural keywords such as "equality" and "neurosexists" to clearly and straightforwardly direct attention towards these values, and the question of whether these values are truly relevant in the situation of sex-difference research.

3. The text has a clear stance on its interpretation of these values and how they fit in. Cahill appears critical of these beliefs in reference to the subject matter. White it seems Cahill believes there is a socially constructed inequality between men and women that should be addressed, he does not seem to think this should hinder sex-difference research just for the sake of being politically correct. If science proves certain cultural norms wrong, or goes against them, Cahill believes this should not deter the science in any way.