In his book, "Why Gender Matters," Dr. Leonard Sax addresses the topic of sex and the biological differences between males and females. Dr. Sax's book is not a discussion focused on "gender,"" as a social force associated with politics and misconceptions. Rather, he's relaying the scientific and objective differences between men and women, boys and girls. .
The beginning of Dr. Sax's book opens with a grim depiction of children who begin their education with a positive and successful attitude, but eventually take a turn for the worse. He continues by relating to readers his education in psychology and the learning he experienced from his professors. The trend of the time, based on Sax's story, seems to be a focus on gender-neutrality. One striking example of this was the story about Professor John Money's recommendation for a boy to be raised as a girl and his surety of the idea that differences between boys and girls are a result of social constructs. Other professors seem to share this notion, believing that there is no such thing as a "boy" or girl" as we, society, have labeled them.".
We later learn that Dr. Money's suggestion to that boy's parents proved to be disastrous, resulting in that boy, David Reimer, committing suicide. While this is an extreme example, other concepts that have been propagated, such the idea that boys are better at math or girls are better at art, are further examples of the harm caused by the lack of knowledge on this subject matter. In fact, Sax claims that ignoring sex differences has led to the proliferation of alcohol abuse in girls and drug abuse in boys. Not only that, boys are having problems with school, both in terms of academic performance as well as attendance in colleges. Unfortunately, many still cling to their belief that gender is only a social construct, willingly ignoring the science and biological programming of sex. Since 2001's legislation legalizing single-sex education, many countries are implementing this form of education.
