Professor who showed students graphic of 'the female brain' apologises

Professor who showed students a joke graphic of ‘the female brain’ with ‘impulse shopping’ section and ‘I told you so gland’ apologises – insisting it was to illustrate there is ‘no difference in real life’ between sexes

• Top neuroscientist John Paul Leach came under fire for showing ‘female brain’
• Former comedian was showing there is ‘no difference in real life’ between sexes
• Mr Leach also showed a Homer Simpson cartoon to illustrate the ‘male brain’ 
• Feminists said it went ‘way past banter’ as  he now faces an investigation 

A top neuroscientist and professor has apologised after coming under fire for showing students a cartoon of the ‘female brain’ which included an ‘I told you so gland’ and an ‘impulse shopping’ section.

Professor John Paul Leach, a former stand-up comedian who has performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, insisted that the point of showing the controversial diagram was to illustrate there is ‘no difference in real life’ between sexes.

He also confirmed that before the cartoons were showed, he did in fact show actual diagrams of both the male and female brains. 

But Mr Leach, head of undergraduate medicine at the University of Glasgow, sparked a series of complaints from students as well as Scottish feminists who said it went ‘way past banter’. He now faces an investigation over the 2017 cartoons.

The professor, who is also a neurologist at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow, used a cartoon of Homer Simpson to depict the ‘male brain’, which included elements such as ‘sleep’, ‘donuts’ and ‘sex’.

But the ‘female brain’ cartoon received widespread backlash after it included smaller labels such as ‘driving skills’ and ‘sex-initiation gland’ as well as ‘realization of wants vs. needs’.

Meanwhile, larger sections of the brain were labelled as the ‘gossip control centre’, ‘shoes’, ‘shiny things and diamonds olfactory’. Olfactory is a term for the nerve which enables sense of smell.

The main section of the ‘female brain’ was also depicted as the ‘headache generator’, slotted next to a large shape which read ‘talk, talk and more talk’.

Feminists and students complained about the diagram Professor John Leach used (pictured) to show the ‘female brain’ which included components such as ‘gold-digging’ and a ‘sex initiator gland’

Below the diagram, a footnote said: ‘The ‘put oil in the car’ and ‘be quiet during the game’ glands are active only when the ‘shiny things and diamonds’ olfactory has been satisfied or when there is a shoe sale. 

But reflecting back on the incident, Professor Leach said: ‘In 2017 I apologised personally and unreservedly for its use and for any harm caused and I do the same today.

‘I can say that the original slide showed cartoons of both a male and female brain.

‘This was intended to be used to make the point in the neuroanatomy lecture that there was no difference in real life between male and female brains.’

The university in the Granite City is now considering the findings of an internal inquiry believed to be related to allegations of discriminatory behaviours towards female academics in the medical school.  

The professor used a cartoon of Homer Simpson to illustrate the ‘male brain’ with elements such as ‘sleep’, ‘donuts’ and ‘sex’

Feminists were furious with the professor showing the diagrams, with a spokeswoman for the Scottish Feminism Network saying: ‘How can female students expect to be treated with respect by peers or by lecturers if that is considered acceptable?

‘This goes way past ‘banter’ and could seriously undermine the confidence of the female students.

‘This is insidious and can cause serious long term consequences.’

In January Morag Ross, QC, was appointed by the university to carry out a review of the institutions’s approach to addressing gender-based violence, including harassment and harmful practices that are ‘committed disproportionately by men against women’.

Interviews have been carried out with staff and students and the report is due to be published within weeks.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the university said: ‘The University of Glasgow condemns discrimination of any kind and is committed to promoting equality and diversity across its community and campus.

‘The university treats all complaints seriously and investigates them appropriately. We don’t comment in individuals.’

Source: Read Full Article