Highly accessible. It has the power to do vastly more for gender equality than any number of feminist manifestos revolutionary to a glorious degreeRachel Cooke, Observer'A treasure trove of information and good humour' CORDELIA FINE, author of Testosterone RexDo you have a female brain or a male brain Or is that the wrong questionReading maps or reading emotions Barbie or Lego We live in a gendered world where we are bombarded with messages about sex and gender. On a daily basis we face deeply ingrained beliefs that your sex determines your skills and preferences, from toys and colours to career choice and salaries. But what does this constant gendering mean for our thoughts, decisions and behaviour And what does it mean for our brainsDrawing on her work as a professor of cognitive neuroimaging, Gina Rippon unpacks the stereotypes that bombard us from our earliest moments and shows how these messages mould our ideas of ourselves and even shape our brains. Taking us back through centuries of sexism, The Gendered Brain reveals how science has been misinterpreted or misused to ask the wrong questions. Instead of challenging the status quo, we are still bound by outdated stereotypes and assumptions. By exploring new, cutting-edge neuroscience, Rippon urges us to move beyond a binary view of our brains and instead to see these complex organs as highly individualised, profoundly adaptable, and full of unbounded potential.Rigorous, timely and liberating, The Gendered Brain has huge repercussions for women and men, for parents and children, and for how we identify ourselves. Read more
H**K
The author has selective views on studies that favor her interpretation
I'm just going to say right off the bat that I believe the premise in which this book is built to be true. Nevertheless, I find the narrative of the book enervating.The book is very thorough in trying to dismantle the current gender views (which go against the author's thesis) based on all the toolkit of bad analysis we know exists: few people in studies, significance does not mean that effect is strong, etc.However, when a particular study happens to favor the author interpretation of the story, it seems that the caveats don't apply anymore. So I find myself more often than not reading stuff like: a new study suggest XXX, with some of the claims being pretty out there (e.g. babies can recognize face patterns in utero). It seems as if the critiques of the first part do not apply to the new studies that happen to favor the authors view. I think that this weakens the premise of the book significantly and made the book annoying.
A**.
Excellent history and current-state research overview of the gendered brain myth
"Brains reflect the lives they have lived, not just the sex of their owners." Scientists have long tried to prove that men and women are inherently different because we have biologically different brains. The author reviews both the history and current-state research on sex differences, mainly in the field of neuroscience – the author's field of expertise – but also endocrinology and psychology. What we are now learning is that our brains are more plastic than previously thought and are profoundly shaped by experiences and messages they are exposed to. These findings imply that biological sex is just one of the variables that influence our brains, with the kind of toys we play with or praise we receive as children having a much more critical role than biology.However, what research is showing is that gender stereotypes have a negative influence on performance and self-esteem for women, and possibly even mental health. The author doesn't dismiss sex differences but instead suggests that it might be time to move beyond the binary categorization of sex and gender – which even genetically isn't as binary as we like to think – and challenge gender stereotypes to unleash the full potential of all humans.I imagine this book will be a hard pill to swallow for a lot of people, but I appreciated the level of detail and references it provides in terms of reviewing past and current research and theories. It also doesn't shy away from asking big questions that challenge our gender stereotypes. This book isn't the final destination; it's a starting point to a discussion that's still very much needed, even in the 21st century.
W**B
Well written book
The book is very well written except for some lacunes in some discussions mainly hormonal influences.
K**R
Atrocius, and mostly incomplete
Honestly, I've read worse books on the subject but not by much. From beginning with pro-forma arguments, to disregarding evidence that doesn't suit her hypothesis, the author makes a strong case only for better editing and review of her work prior to publication.
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