Gender Inequality Is Changing the Structure of Women’s Brains

Remember that scandal from a while back, when all those girls went to Jupiter to get more stupider? Meanwhile, boys went to Mars to get candy bars, like it was nothing? Turns out, girls never even needed to leave this planet to get more stupider — all it took was the discrimination they faced right here on Earth. A new, first-of-its-kind study composed of research from 29 countries around the globe found that gender inequality may actually change the structure of women’s brains, increasing their risk of mental health disorders and reducing their academic performance. Throw away those spacesuits, girlies, you won’t need them where we’re headed! (To get lobotomies).

Looking at more than 7,800 MRI scans, researchers noted a pattern in women’s brains from countries with less robust gender equality. Similar to how you might see disorders like depression and post-traumatic stress show up on scans, many presented thinner gray matter cortices, a part of the brain that’s especially associated with stress and emotion.

Dr. Nicolas Crossley, a lead author of the final report and associate professor at Pontificia Universidad Católica in Chile, said his team’s analysis “suggests some sex differences in brain structure are associated with the adverse social environment under which many women live.” He added that thinner gray matter cortices could be impacted by “other mechanisms,” such as “the effect of reduced opportunities including education,” leading to “lower development of connections.”

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Gender inequality, the authors of the study wrote, “profoundly impacts society by creating an environment that significantly harms women.” While they acknowledged that gender discrimination looks different between cultures, the authors assessed gender inequality as it appears in education, health, the workplace and in public office, as well as how women are “disproportionately impacted by unpaid care work.” Those metrics helped them identify the role of country-specific gender inequality in women’s worse overall mental health and lower educational achievement.

The researchers may not have found any significant difference between male and female brains in countries where the genders are considered more equal, but those countries still face major equality gaps of their own. In the United States, racism and classism significantly worsen gender discrimination. Black and Indigenous women have higher maternal mortality rates and are more likely to experience violence in their lifetimes, and the wage gap is most stark for women of color. A study with such a broad scope couldn’t possibly capture the nuances of subjugation by demographic, but still, we love a high-level analysis!

Sure, okay, you win, boys. Science says girls do have smaller brains after all. But that’s only because you’re, like, oppressing us or whatever.