Scientists at the Centre for Applied Genomics in Toronto have discovered a gene in women that influences the sex’s actions. The cogitari alvarium gene has also been found in species exhibiting collective behaviour.
The gene would allow women to act with a “hive-mind, like bees,” explained lead scientist Arnold Tergen, but something is suppressing the gene. Women no longer act in the same way or toward the same goal. Instead, “women act on individual impulses, whether or not that is detrimental to the sex as a whole,” said Tergen.
Tergen started the study after noticing women were more likely to go to the bathroom in groups, while men went individually. Rather than a social phenomenon, he concluded, the answer was in our genes.
“We wanted to determine whether thought processes differed between the sexes based on genes. This discovery really shows that there’s more of a difference between men and women than previously thought,” he said.
Tergen said the next step in his research is to determine to what extent the gene controls women’s actions. “We can’t really explain how it seems women act and think as an autonomous group, but we need to ascertain why women have differing opinions from the group. Is the gene mutating? We just don’t know.”
Sociologist George McQuarie, who worked beside Tergen during parts of the study, noted how the gene discovery implicates society “as we know it.”
“Not only now do we have a duty to further research how women group-think among each other, but also we need to determine if this whole feminist movement was an accident of this group-thinking,” he said. “We’ve seen feminism grow from being just about equality to feminazi ideals. Obviously with such a range of actions, there must be some disconnect between each woman.”
McQuarie acknowledged how the differing opinions in women made it difficult for men to interact with them.
“Some women want total financial independence. Some want to be dominated. If they all thought the same, us men could better meet their needs,” McQuarie said. “Sexism could be nonexistent if women could unanimously choose to act a certain way.”
Sexism, according to McQuarie, only happens when there is confusion on how women want to be treated. “Women who work in the marketing industry put out the very same ads that other women call degrading. It sometimes seems like the women are confused themselves. Do they or don’t they want to be objectified? It’s very puzzling.”
Anthropologist Elizabeth Davis echoed McQuarie’s conclusions.
“Across cultures, we’ve seen clear cut roles set out for both sexes, but in this day and age there is too much gray area for how a woman should act or behave,” Davis said. “I don’t know the science behind genes, but perhaps this hive-mind gene has been deactivated or something in the last 50 years.”
When asked if she had any experience communicating with other women through a hive-mind, Davis said she had always felt an innate pressure to act like a “domestic housewife.”
“I’ve always felt this instinctive inclination to stay in the home rather than cultivate a career of my own. I acted against this instinct, mainly because it wasn’t very strong in me,” said Davis. “Perhaps that was my gene struggling to get through my social pressures to be an independent woman.”
Tergen plans to continue his research on the cogitari alvarium gene in order to find a way to reactivate the gene in the coming generations.
“This could lead to peace between the sexes. Imagine women no longer having to traverse this gray area of gender roles. Instead they will have reinforce their instinct to act the same,” Tergen said. “Women were born with this gene. It’s in their blood to agree communally.”