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UvA-DARE (Digital Academic Repository) The politics of plasticity: Sex and gender in the 21st century brain Kleinherenbrink, A.V. Publication date 2016 Document Version Final published version Link to publication Citation for published version (APA): Kleinherenbrink, A. V. (2016). The politics of plasticity: Sex and gender in the 21st century brain. General rights It is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), other than for strictly personal, individual use, unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons). Disclaimer/Complaints regulations If you believe that digital publication of certain material infringes any of your rights or (privacy) interests, please let the Library know, stating your reasons. In case of a legitimate complaint, the Library will make the material inaccessible and/or remove it from the website. Please Ask the Library: https://uba.uva.nl/en/contact, or a letter to: Library of the University of Amsterdam, Secretariat, Singel 425, 1012 WP Amsterdam, The Netherlands. You will be contacted as soon as possible. UvA-DARE is a service provided by the library of the University of Amsterdam (https://dare.uva.nl) Download date:24 Sep 2021 T HE t the beginning of this century, the idea that the brain is plastic—that its P Astructure and function can change in response to stimulation or injury— OLITICS began to replace the belief that adult brains are fixed. The claim that sex differences are hardwired into the brain, however, is still frequently endorsed. This study builds on feminist scholarship that has critiqued this claim, and OF THE POLITICS OF PLASTICITY that has argued for a reconsideration of the relationship between sex/gender ST P SEX AND GENDER IN THE 21 CENTURY BRAIN and the brain through the lens of neuroplasticity. Is plasticity indeed the right LASTICITY tool for feminism to challenge neurobiological determinism with? By mapping the ontological, epistemological, and ethical considerations provoked by this question, The Politics of Plasticity examines the stakes involved in (re)thinking the sexed/gendered subject as a neuroplastic subject. A NNELIES K LEINHERENBRIN K Annelies Kleinherenbrink THE POLITICS OF PLASTICITY Sex and Gender in the 21st Century Brain Annelies Véronique Kleinherenbrink Cover design: Sander de Wit Cover image: Brain Blonde by Paul Schietekat Printed by: CPI Koninklijke Wöhrmann © Annelies V. Kleinherenbrink, Amsterdam, The Netherlands THE POLITICS OF PLASTICITY Sex and Gender in the 21st Century Brain ACADEMISCH PROEFSCHRIFT ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor aan de Universiteit van Amsterdam op gezag van de Rector Magnificus prof. dr. ir. K.I.J. Maex ten overstaan van een door het College voor Promoties ingestelde commissie, in het openbaar te verdedigen in de Agnietenkapel op vrijdag 21 oktober 2016, te 12:00 uur door Annelies Véronique Kleinherenbrink geboren te Apeldoorn Promotiecommissie: Promotor: Prof. dr. P.P.R.W. Pisters Universiteit van Amsterdam Overige leden: Prof. dr. J.F.T.M. van Dijck Universiteit van Amsterdam Prof. dr. G. Grossi SUNI New Paltz University Prof. dr. A.A. M’charek Universiteit van Amsterdam Prof. dr. V. Pitts-Taylor Wesleyan University Connecticut Prof. dr. E.S. Schliesser Universiteit van Amsterdam Dr. K.V.Q. Vintges Universiteit van Amsterdam Faculteit der Geesteswetenschappen This research was supported by an ASCA PhD fellowship from the Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis. Contents Acknowledgements ix Introduction. A tale of two brains 1 Preludes 1 A tale of two brains 2 Sexual differentiation and brain plasticity: a shared history 6 The neuroscientific turn and the politics of plasticity 9 Challenges in mobilizing plasticity 12 Chapter outline 14 1. Sex/gender in the plastic brain 17 Introduction 17 Vive la différence? Imag(in)ing sex in the brain 21 Brain sex in context: the plasticity of sex differences 26 Sex differences in plasticity 30 Conclusion 34 2. Situating sex, situating science 37 Introduction 37 Mobilizing plasticity 38 How matter comes to matter 42 How sex/gender comes to matter in the brain 45 Culture into nature, nature into culture 49 3. Becoming a boy: brain sex in the classroom 51 Introduction 51 The rise of the boy crisis 53 Backlash against feminism 53 The marketisation of education 54 Educational neuroscience 55 ‘Boys and girls learn differently’ 59 Boys becoming boys 63 Nurturing nature: Gurian’s invisible pedagogy 64 Reaching for excellence: Gurian in the Netherlands 68 Conclusion 71 4. Plastic parenting: a family portrait 73 Introduction 73 ‘Get it right in the early years’: the plastic infant brain 75 ‘Mothers are made, not born’: the plastic maternal brain 80 ‘Both mom and dad, brain-wise’: the plastic paternal brain 85 Interlude: train the gay away? 89 Fathers at risk and as risk 93 Conclusion 94 5. Women’s mental health and the therapeutic promise of brain sex 97 Introduction 97 Mainstreaming sex as a biological variable 100 The therapeutic promise of brain sex 105 Schizophrenia 106 Autism 115 Statistical panic: the female brain at risk 118 Conclusion 123 Conclusion 127 Summary 131 Samenvatting 133 Bibliography 137 Acknowledgements I am delighted to express my gratitude here to those who have supported and inspired me over the past four years. First of all, I am sincerely grateful to my supervisor, Patricia Pisters. You have taught me to work with, and not against, my personal rhythms of inspiration and productivity. Thank you for your patience and your trust in me, and for continuing our meetings during your sabbatical. Besides Patricia, I would like to acknowledge some other wonderful teachers and mentors who have inspired and supported me greatly along the way. Kathrin Thiele and Iris van der Tuin (Utrecht University), studying with you has been such a joy. Your dedication and sharp minds inspired me to pursue a PhD in the first place, and continue to motivate me today. Veronica Vasterling (Radboud University Nijmegen), I deeply appreciate your guidance and support throughout the years. I also thank Karin Vintges (University of Amsterdam) and Tatjana van Strien (Radboud University Nijmegen) for their warm encouragement and kindness. Thank you also for offering me the opportunity to teach at the UvA and the RUN – I learned so much from the discussions with our students. This dissertation is greatly indebted to the NeuroGenderings Network. The opportunity to exchange my thoughts with its members has been wonderfully inspiring and encouraging. In particular, I thank Rebecca Jordan-Young, whose visit to Nijmegen many years ago first sparked my interest in neurofeminism, and whose intellectual vigour and kind generosity I admire greatly. I thank Sigrid Schmitz for advising me to go to the NeuroGenderings conference in Vienna when I met her in Budapest in 2011. This conference took place during the first week of my PhD candidacy, and the discussions there made me drastically reconsider my research project. I thank Anelis Kaiser and Hannah Fitsch, whose visit to Amsterdam and Nijmegen together with Bec in 2013 was such a pleasure. I am also very grateful to Cynthia Kraus for inviting me to participate in the NG4 conference in New York in the spring of 2016, which provided me with just the stimulation I needed in the last stage of writing this dissertation, and which gave me the opportunity to collaborate with Sigrid, Gina Rippon, Vanessa Gorley and Diana Schellenberg. At these and other meetings, I have received valuable feedback on the ideas developed in this dissertation. I have also drawn much inspiration from the Neurocultures & Neuroaesthetics reading group at the University of Amsterdam, led by Patricia. Flora Lysen, Tim Yaczo, Stephan Besser, Julian Kiverstein, Vera Stiphout, Daisy van der Zande, Machiel Keestra, Moosje ix Goossen, Nim Goede, Abe Geil, Halbe Kuipers, Manon Parry, and all other participants: thank you for making our meetings so interesting and so much fun. At ASCA, I have met many more wonderful colleagues and friends, including Lucy van de Wiel, Blandine Joret, Lara Mazurski, Enis Dinç, Nur Ozgenalp, Irene Villaescusa, and Melle Kromhout. I had a great time organizing the ASCA workshop in 2014 with Uzma Ansari, Artyom Anikin and Simon Ferdinand. I have come to cherish my friendship with Simon and his partner Suzanne Vonk in particular. My doctoral research has been fully supported by the Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis, part of the University of Amsterdam, for which I am tremendously grateful. I thank Eliza Steinbock for her advice during the application procedure. I also want to give thanks to Eloe Kingma, whose assistance and kindness can always be counted on at ASCA. I thank my dear friends Renée Jansen and Bas Bunnik for being by my side during so many moments of celebration and moments of desperation – your loving enthusiasm has made all the difference. Other friends who have given me joy, comfort and support during this process include Simone van Hulst, Maartje Meuwissen, Eline van Uden, Christel Meijer, Eveline Quist, and Anne Colder. A special thanks to my brother Arjen, whom I love and admire so very much, for always pushing my thinking and stimulating my self-confidence. I am so happy and proud to have you by my side during my defence. I also give thanks to my mother and father, Herma and Guus, who have nourished my brain from early on. Thank you for all your love and emotional support. Finally, of course, I thank my wonderful husband Sander de Wit. Thank you for coming with me to Amsterdam without hesitation four years ago, and for making a home and a marriage here with me. Thank you for always giving me the space I needed to do this work, for believing in me so unconditionally, for being proud of me and loving me.
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