Psychologist Leta Sutter Hollingworth was a pioneer in challenging the scientific theory of the inferiority of women’s intelligence to man, especially during their menstrual cycles. She also contributed greatly to the study of emotional and educational needs of intelligent and gifted children, but I will focus on her studies of women (O’Connel & Russo, 1990). Born Leta Anna Sutter in the small farm town of Chadron, Nebraska, on May 25, 1886, Leta would unfortunately be no stranger to heartache.
At the age of 3, Leta’s mother passed away giving birth to the youngest of her two sisters. Her father was unfit to raise them due to his irresponsible lifestyle, so her and her sisters moved in with their deceased mother’s parents. She lived a relatively happy life with her grandparents until she was 13 years old. At that time, her father had remarried and took custody of Leta and her sisters, at …show more content…
The only way to verify such theories would require women to be equal to men within a society, under social circumstance, law and prejudice. The idea that women are the lesser species adds an underlying bias to these hypothesis, that make it impossible to gain proper and fair findings. Proof of these biases are based on these facts written by Dr. Leta Hollingworth (1914), “The anatomist Meckel concluded on pathological grounds that the human female showed greater variability than the human male, "and he thought that since man is the superior animal and variation a sign of inferiority, the conclusion was justified." Later, when anatomists and naturalists arrived at the conclusion that the male is more variable, variability came to be regarded as an advantage, a characteristic affording the greatest hope for progress, and finally as the probable explanation of the fact that all the world's greatest deeds of intellect have been the deeds of men” (p.
At the age of 3, Leta’s mother passed away giving birth to the youngest of her two sisters. Her father was unfit to raise them due to his irresponsible lifestyle, so her and her sisters moved in with their deceased mother’s parents. She lived a relatively happy life with her grandparents until she was 13 years old. At that time, her father had remarried and took custody of Leta and her sisters, at …show more content…
The only way to verify such theories would require women to be equal to men within a society, under social circumstance, law and prejudice. The idea that women are the lesser species adds an underlying bias to these hypothesis, that make it impossible to gain proper and fair findings. Proof of these biases are based on these facts written by Dr. Leta Hollingworth (1914), “The anatomist Meckel concluded on pathological grounds that the human female showed greater variability than the human male, "and he thought that since man is the superior animal and variation a sign of inferiority, the conclusion was justified." Later, when anatomists and naturalists arrived at the conclusion that the male is more variable, variability came to be regarded as an advantage, a characteristic affording the greatest hope for progress, and finally as the probable explanation of the fact that all the world's greatest deeds of intellect have been the deeds of men” (p.