Delusions of Gender: The Real Science Behind Sex Differences
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Review
In 'Delusions of Gender' Cordelia Fine does a magnificent job debunking the so-called science, and especially the brain science, of gender. If you thought there were some inescapable facts about women's minds - some hard wiring that explains poor science and maths performance, or the ability to remember to buy the milk and arrange the holidays - you can put these on the rubbish heap. Instead, Fine shows that there are almost no areas of performance that are not touched by cultural stereotypes. This scholarly book will make you itch to press the delete button on so much nonsense, while being pure fun to read. --Emeritus Professor Uta Frith FBA, FMedSci, FRS, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, Research Foundation Professor, University of Aarhus
Cordelia Fine has a first-rate intellect and writing talent to burn. In her new book, 'Delusions of Gender', she takes aim at the idea that male brains and female brains are "wired differently," leading men and women to act in a manner consistent with decades-old gender stereotypes. Armed with penetrating insights, a rapier wit, and a slew of carefully researched facts, Fine lowers her visor, lifts her lance, and attacks this idea full-force. Whether her adversaries can rally their forces and mount a successful counter-attack remains to be seen. What's certain at this point, however, is that in 'Delusions of Gender' Cordelia Fine has struck a terrific first blow against what she calls "neurosexism." --William Ickes, Distinguished Professor of Psychology, University of Texas at Arlington Author of 'Everyday Mind Reading'
Fine turns the popular science book formula on its head -- USA Today, August 2010
Fine is fun, droll yet deeply serious. Setting a cracking pace, 'Delusions' tackles the power of implicit association (those unconscious associations we make about men and women) and of negative stereotyping, plus the empathising/systematising theory proposed by psychologist Simon Baron-Cohen, and the messy world of brain scans and genetic research. Her conclusion: we are in thrall to "neurosexism". --New Scientist 1 September 2010
The author, Cordelia Fine, who has a Ph.D. in cognitive neuroscience from University College London, is an acerbic critic, mincing no words when it comes to those she disagrees with. But her sharp tongue is tempered with humor and linguistic playfulness, as the title itself suggests.... It's too late to tell that to Dr. Sax, a proponent of single-sex education, who cited the Connellan study as evidence that "girls are born prewired to be interested in faces while boys are prewired to be more interested in moving objects." But it's not too late to read this book and see how complex and fascinating the whole issue is.
--New York Times, 24 August 2010
`In a book that sparkles with wit, which is easy to read but underpinned by substantial scholarship and a formidable 100-page bibliography, Cordelia Fine attacks the ready generalisations on sexual differences made by neuroscientists and their media exegetes.' - Hilary Rose
--THE, 30th September, 2010
Cordelia Fine has a first-rate intellect and writing talent to burn. In her new book, 'Delusions of Gender', she takes aim at the idea that male brains and female brains are "wired differently," leading men and women to act in a manner consistent with decades-old gender stereotypes. Armed with penetrating insights, a rapier wit, and a slew of carefully researched facts, Fine lowers her visor, lifts her lance, and attacks this idea full-force. Whether her adversaries can rally their forces and mount a successful counter-attack remains to be seen. What's certain at this point, however, is that in 'Delusions of Gender' Cordelia Fine has struck a terrific first blow against what she calls "neurosexism." --William Ickes, Distinguished Professor of Psychology, University of Texas at Arlington Author of 'Everyday Mind Reading'
Fine turns the popular science book formula on its head -- USA Today, August 2010
Fine is fun, droll yet deeply serious. Setting a cracking pace, 'Delusions' tackles the power of implicit association (those unconscious associations we make about men and women) and of negative stereotyping, plus the empathising/systematising theory proposed by psychologist Simon Baron-Cohen, and the messy world of brain scans and genetic research. Her conclusion: we are in thrall to "neurosexism". --New Scientist 1 September 2010
The author, Cordelia Fine, who has a Ph.D. in cognitive neuroscience from University College London, is an acerbic critic, mincing no words when it comes to those she disagrees with. But her sharp tongue is tempered with humor and linguistic playfulness, as the title itself suggests.... It's too late to tell that to Dr. Sax, a proponent of single-sex education, who cited the Connellan study as evidence that "girls are born prewired to be interested in faces while boys are prewired to be more interested in moving objects." But it's not too late to read this book and see how complex and fascinating the whole issue is.
--New York Times, 24 August 2010
`In a book that sparkles with wit, which is easy to read but underpinned by substantial scholarship and a formidable 100-page bibliography, Cordelia Fine attacks the ready generalisations on sexual differences made by neuroscientists and their media exegetes.' - Hilary Rose
--THE, 30th September, 2010
Product Description
This is a vehement attack on the latest pseudo-scientific claims about the differences between the sexes - with the scientific evidence to back it up. Sex discrimination is supposedly a distant memory. Yet popular books, magazines and even scientific articles increasingly defend inequalities by citing immutable biological differences between the male and female brain. Why are there so few women in science and engineering, so few men in the laundry room? Well, they say, it's our brains. Drawing on the latest research in developmental psychology, neuroscience, and social psychology, "Delusions of Gender" rebuts these claims, showing how old myths, dressed up in new scientific finery, help perpetuate the status quo. Cordelia Fine reveals the mind's remarkable plasticity, shows the substantial influence of culture on identity, and, ultimately, exposes just how much of what we consider 'hardwired' is actually malleable. This startling, original and witty book shows the surprising extent to which boys and girls, men and women are made - and not born.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
61 of 71 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I found this book stunning. All around you see all this stuff about 'Men's brains' and 'Women's brains', and it always struck me as odd that a sex that has, for example, written so much brilliant literature should be deemed semi-autistic, etc etc. So here comes this brilliantly researched book (just take a look at the pages and pages of notes at the end - this author knows her onions backwards and forwards and sideways) - and she points out how shoddy it all is.
And she's funny!
No one will ever again have to sit through a dinner party with some parent going on about how 'I thought that too, but you only have to LOOK at my ttwo children to see there are innate differences...bleh bleh'. She unpickes it all and shows how social pressures are so important and the brain differences that are so often claimed are, essentially, neurotosh, aka neurosexism. I think I shall carry a copy round with me.
And she's funny!
No one will ever again have to sit through a dinner party with some parent going on about how 'I thought that too, but you only have to LOOK at my ttwo children to see there are innate differences...bleh bleh'. She unpickes it all and shows how social pressures are so important and the brain differences that are so often claimed are, essentially, neurotosh, aka neurosexism. I think I shall carry a copy round with me.
12 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This book should be required reading for all women - and men, and especially all those who would wish to be enlightened parents.
The author reviews and explains neuroscience studies, real and spurious, in the area of gender that are genuinely surprising to read about. Assumptions I've made over the years are taken apart and revealed as 'tricks of the mind'. Studies are analyzed and shown to be 'bad science'. It is genuinely eye-opening, even for those of us who have always thought themselves fairly 'gender aware'. Thankfully the hardiest detractor of Cordelia Fine's work (and I'll just bet there are many - this area is always one in which you light the blue touchpaper and retire!)would have trouble finding her rabid or partisan. The wry - and overt - humour in the text is wonderful.
I heartily recommend this book - for it's balanced, scientific approach, its good humour and it's well-written prose.
The author reviews and explains neuroscience studies, real and spurious, in the area of gender that are genuinely surprising to read about. Assumptions I've made over the years are taken apart and revealed as 'tricks of the mind'. Studies are analyzed and shown to be 'bad science'. It is genuinely eye-opening, even for those of us who have always thought themselves fairly 'gender aware'. Thankfully the hardiest detractor of Cordelia Fine's work (and I'll just bet there are many - this area is always one in which you light the blue touchpaper and retire!)would have trouble finding her rabid or partisan. The wry - and overt - humour in the text is wonderful.
I heartily recommend this book - for it's balanced, scientific approach, its good humour and it's well-written prose.
21 of 25 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Oh my LORD! You will never feel the same way about using a simple pronoun again.
This book highlights all sorts of ways in which male and female stereotypes affect the way people think about themselves and others. In TERRIFYING ways. We are given a layperson's synopsis of a number of experiments and their alarming results. Cordelia Fine recounts how simply reminding yourself what gender you are (by ticking a box on a form, unbelievably) has been shown to affect how you go on to perform in a maths test: girls score lower than control groups when reminded that they are female, since the all-pervasive stereotype is that boys are better at maths. This is just one horrifying example of the way stereotypes can affect all of us for the worse.
We are shown the many ways that we all treat boys and girls differently, even subconsciously. Fine doesn't prove that there are no differences between male and female brains but she provides a fantastically sarcastic commentary on the literature which aims to prove the opposite. She articulates her concern that some teachers and parents are deliberately treating boys and girls differently, because of bad-science claims in pop-culture books that suggest that the sexes must be treated differently to achieve equality. She urges caution in making assumptions about different abilities or preferences in boys and girls, demonstrating there is not enough evidence to warrant it.
The first part of the book shows us the damage that can be done by our different treatment of girls and boys, and the last part proves to readers that they too do this themselves, even though they don't mean to. Fine has added a valuable contribution to this debate. You may agree with her, or you may disagree, but I guarantee you will be shocked at some of the issues she highlights. She speaks with a passionate voice in an extremely funny and enjoyable book, and has galvanised me, for one: this book has changed the way I speak and act towards children and adults of both sexes.
This book highlights all sorts of ways in which male and female stereotypes affect the way people think about themselves and others. In TERRIFYING ways. We are given a layperson's synopsis of a number of experiments and their alarming results. Cordelia Fine recounts how simply reminding yourself what gender you are (by ticking a box on a form, unbelievably) has been shown to affect how you go on to perform in a maths test: girls score lower than control groups when reminded that they are female, since the all-pervasive stereotype is that boys are better at maths. This is just one horrifying example of the way stereotypes can affect all of us for the worse.
We are shown the many ways that we all treat boys and girls differently, even subconsciously. Fine doesn't prove that there are no differences between male and female brains but she provides a fantastically sarcastic commentary on the literature which aims to prove the opposite. She articulates her concern that some teachers and parents are deliberately treating boys and girls differently, because of bad-science claims in pop-culture books that suggest that the sexes must be treated differently to achieve equality. She urges caution in making assumptions about different abilities or preferences in boys and girls, demonstrating there is not enough evidence to warrant it.
The first part of the book shows us the damage that can be done by our different treatment of girls and boys, and the last part proves to readers that they too do this themselves, even though they don't mean to. Fine has added a valuable contribution to this debate. You may agree with her, or you may disagree, but I guarantee you will be shocked at some of the issues she highlights. She speaks with a passionate voice in an extremely funny and enjoyable book, and has galvanised me, for one: this book has changed the way I speak and act towards children and adults of both sexes.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Amazing
Don't quote anything you "know" about gender brain differences again until you have read this book. Fascinating, amusing, illuminating. Read more
Published 1 month ago by sally forster
excellent book
This book is well written and organised. Some critics have said it is "witty", I prefer to say that some part of it, mostly near the end, is "tongue in cheek" kind of humour. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Jane
Delusions of Gender: Teh Real Science Behind Sex differences
This critical review on stereotype gender research - mostly brain and cognitive research - is giving an important and highly valuable lesson in decoding manipulative research... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Marianne
great fun for all of us who do not want to be misleaded by simplistic...
Fortunately a lot of us already know that the popular idea of men and women being fundamentally different is something largely created by ourselves (and somethimes despirately kept... Read more
Published 10 months ago by vp
Thought provoking
Well written, amusing, and thought provoking. Debunks many of the myths around gender (almost all of which seem to show women as possessors of inferior brains / capabilities). Read more
Published 12 months ago by bookworm
pop journalism with an axe to grind
author presents herself as a scientist but behaves like a journalist. she has already decided that there is no difference between men and women. Read more
Published 13 months ago by asp
Brilliant critique of neurosexism and Evo Psych
Cordelia Fine's "Delusions of Gender" has been making the rounds among the literati and the general public interested in popular science alike, and with good reason. Read more
Published 14 months ago by M. A. Krul
Gender science: phrenology for today
In the nineteenth century they thought bumps on your head showed what your personality was like. They thought that a university education damaged female fertility. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Dorothy Roth
Delusions of science: a question of scientific validity
There is an implicit oxymoron in the notion of anything referred to as 'real science'. If science has taught us one thing throughout history, it ought to be that we know very... Read more
Published 17 months ago by A. Drummond
Misleading critique
I admit that when I bought the book I already knew it was no good. The reviews (Hilary Rose) and blurbs were very informative in this respect. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Jippu
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