We are Descartes' children.
Rational thought is perceived as masculine, emotional thought is perceived as feminine.
The polarisation in our culture into masculine and feminine, with all the attendant value judgements has been at the centre of sociological, psychological and feminist debates for the last 30 years. Daniel Goleman argues that far from being detrimental to rational thought, emotional intelligence is an integral part of our thought processes. Emotional intelligence is not something that is fixed at birth but which can be nurtured. He cites neurological research on people whose emotional brain areas have been damaged. Daily functioning was severely impaired, although IQ and cognitive ability remained unchanged.