Broca's Argument Against Women

Gould begins proving his point by initially establishing the bias Broca had against women, as well as shows that Broca even revered as a credible scientist in his time (1-2). In his opening paragraph Gould wishes to show Broca’s “great influence” and “high esteem as a jewel of nineteenth-century science,” though Gould does this rather whimsically it later strengthens his argument in the next two paragraphs when he introduces Broca’s immense bias against women. Gould not only explains the bias but quotes Broca in saying that bias has no place in science and his own declaration to cast it aside, then comes back in his next paragraph to show that Broca infact knew that height difference in men and women had effects on brain size difference yet “he made not attempt to measure the effect,” (4). …show more content…
The one thing Ms. Montessori did not agree on would be that women were innately inferior, and attempted to prove that women were innately superior to men (14). As Gould concludes his argument by denouncing biological determinism, referring to it as being “irrelevant and highly injurious,” (16). Gould does this in order to confirm the immorality of both using science to confirm bias as well as using it to prove certain groups inferior. Gould is able to conclude this way without having to bring in the other inaccuracies in science because has already previously shown lack of knowing how much body size affected their results. This in turn gave him the capability to leave this out while still showing not only how much bias can affect science, but also revering it as immoral. It also enables Gould to keep a short and strong ending that would resonate in the hearts of readers, in the sense of appealing to our American desires for

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