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.
About the Author
Cordelia Fine is a Research Associate at Macquarie University, Australia, and an Honorary Research Fellow at the Centre for Applied Philosophy & Public Ethics at the University of Melbourne, Australia. She was called 'A science writer to watch' by Metro on publication of her previous book, A Mind of Its Own.
