What Pre-Historic Women Hunters Teach Us About Gender Bias in Science

Last year offered numerous examples of discoveries and disproving of myths that have been perpetuated by gender bias and have long impacted scientific narratives with real-life impacts that could have been avoided through self-reflective methods. One such example is the destruction of the myth of strict gender roles in prehistoric times.

A closer look at the pre-historic gender-based labor dichotomy myth offers a clear example of confirmation bias combined with cognitive dissonance fueled by gender bias. Despite years of archeological evidence where women were buried with hunting tools, as well as tools of warfare, the dominating narrative continued to be that only men were hunters. This is because, up until recently, scientists have created alternative narratives to evidence of women hunters and warriors, including falsely assuming those buried with these materials were men, to maintain, probably unintentionally, the gendered labor myth.  Not only did, and do, women hunt within foraging societies, a study by researchers at Seattle Pacific University in which they reviewed literature on 63 foraging communities, found that 79% of them documented women hunting. 

Humans, and the machines that we create, are not capable of objectivity. Rather than striving to create objective research designs, the scientific community is better supported when we are clear about our positionality and examine our research designs with the assumption that they are biased. This self-reflection method creates space for understanding how our biases impact both design and interpretation and create the opportunity for conversation, exploration, and correction. 

Next time your local misogynist tells you that women belong in the kitchen and taking care of the children, you can point them to this study. Make sure to also share it with any researchers who believe they are beyond the reach of bias. 

I wrote this for a post-doc application and figured I might as well share it with the public, too! Would you like to see more of these research-related blogs? Let me know in the comments or via email!