Sexualized brains

de Nicole C. Karafyllis, Gotlind Ulshöfer

The now-popular idea that emotions have an intelligent core (and the reverse, that intelligence has an emotional core) comes from the neurosciences and psychology. Similarly, the fundamental sexualization of the brain - the new interest in "essential differences" in male and female brains and behaviors - is based on neuroscience research and neuroimages of emotions. In Sexualized Brains, scholars from a range of disciplines reflect on the epistemological claims that emotional intelligence (EI) can be located in the brain and that it is legitimate to attribute distinct kinds of emotions to the biological sexes. The brain, as an icon, has colonized the humanities and social sciences, leading to the emergence of such new disciplines as neurosociology, neuroeconomics, and neurophilosophy. Neuroscience and psychology now have the power to transform not only the practice of science but also contemporary society. These developments, the essays in this volume show, will soon affect the very heart of gender studies.