Difference Blog by Dan4th

Difference Blog: A Daily Feature on the Study of Sex and Gender Differences, by Dan4th, is an interesting little blog. I say “little” because most of the posts are on the short side; the blog itself stretches back into 2006 and averages several posts a week, though not quite daily. You would not know this blog was written by a theater major from all the gender-based, scientific studies being referenced and discussed. “Dan4th” is a 32 year old male (“ex-female”) pursuing a Masters in Psych while doing something called “research administration” in the financial division of the education field. ?? I have no idea what he does! Other than read and blog about scientific studies of possible gender difference, that is.

Dan4th gives his readers a short blurb about the latest study or studies he has gone over in connection with a wide range of topics, from Seasonal Affective Disorder to Groundhog Day (two recent posts). He considers their findings and then gives another short blurb on said issue based on his personal experience. The two sections of each post are separated by a long, unbroken line, which has the effect of dividing them not only physically, but in tone and style as well.

Study overviews are matter-of-fact synopses, formal in tone, largely devoid of personal opinion, as in the following from An untrustworthy face:

Female raters assessed the women's faces for masculinity, while male raters assessed them for trustworthiness and desirability as a long-term mate. Sexual histories were taken by self-report.

This snippet is from a description of a study on women's masculinity, desirability, and sexual history. It states nothing more than how the study was conducted; there are no opinions, projections, or even questions. The blurb that follows (appropriately segregated from the study) is much more subjective.

This study pokes at one of the areas that bothers me about a lot of the women's testosterone studies: there's a lot of jumps in the reasoning. The size of a woman's chin = her testosterone levels = her sexual behavior?

The author, "me," is suddenly present; his feelings are invoked, he is bothered. The study is criticized and questions raised, none of which we see in the first part of the post. This formatting is typical of all Dan4th's posts and the reader has no problem distinguishing "objective science" from "subjective experience" and opinion. Don't forget, the big fat line is there to remind you just where one stops and the other starts!

Difference Blog dutifully cites studies by author and year, linking the review back to the source from whence the information came. Dan4th also links back to his own, previous posts on topics when relevant, often by date, in a systematic way, much like the science he is examining. This sets an academic tone, but it is undermined by the informality of the author's subjective commentary on "science." Phrases such as

Or maybe I'm just cranky and need a nap. That's possible too.

in a post about the latest science on biological differences between the sexes, or

My lack of honk-expression frustrated the hell out of an ex of mine

while discussing a study on gender differences in driver aggression serve to detract from, or perhaps more accurately, deflate, the scientific feel created in the first part of every post. Dan4th brings science down from its prim and proper pedestal to the level of the everyday, where uncertainty is the rule. Are women and men equally aggressive on the road, or not? Are biological differences between the sexes so clear, natural, or even important? What, if anything, does gender or sex have to do with any of it? What is the relevance to how we live our daily lives? These are the questions Dan4th brings to the table to dine with science.

The blog hinges on the fact that Dan4th has experienced being male, female, and in between (transitioning). Ever careful to remind readers that you cannot generalize from a sample of one (or from anecdotal evidence, I might add), he nevertheless offers his own opinions of each issue for the reader to consider. Difference Blog is there to get people thinking, questioning, and examining gender and (biological) sex in their own lives.