Deborah Blum

In the following viewpoint, Deborah Blum contends that while biological differences play a part in forming gender roles, those differences are amplified by cultural and environmental influences. She maintains that certain biological disparities, such as testosterone’s part in making men more aggressive, do influence personality. However, Blum argues, these biological differences are tempered by factors such as a person’s upbringing and work environment. Blum is a professor of journalism at the University of Wisconsin in Madison and the author of Sex on the Brain: The Biological Differences Between Men and Women.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. According to statistics cited by Blum, in conflicts in which a woman killed a man, how often did the man start the fight?
2. In the author’s view, at what age...