Review by Choice Review
Fine (fellow, Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics, Univ. of Melbourne, Australia) intends the apt title of this book to reflect the societal ubiquity of gender differences and how the dissemination of scientific knowledge can unwittingly reinforce these differences. Though acknowledging societal attitudes toward gender have changed, the author deftly notes the historical parallels in thinking about gender differences between Victorian-era and contemporary scientists. Targeting the "neurosexism" of current research on brain differences between females and males, she convincingly demonstrates how faulty research assumptions and methods have generated erroneous conclusions and premature speculation. She points out that making a case for single-sex education based on brain scan research is just as dubious as Victorian-era rhetoric by scientists connecting women's brain size and women's voting rights. Fine also analyzes social-psychological research on gender differences and gender socialization, and provides an informative overview of the research literature dealing with biological factors underlying gender differences. Readable and well documented, this book will be useful to those interested in neuroscience, the social sciences, and gender studies. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty; general readers. H. L. Minton emeritus, University of Windsor
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review
In a methodical and devastatingly effective manner, Fine eviscerates the recent trend in attributing society's gender-based differences to biology. The sheer girth of her analysis is staggering as she addresses everything from scientific studies going back more than a century to the latest assertions of Mars and Venus author John Gray. Fine pivots from studies on gender-based clothing and toys to a discussion of education, and reviews recent Caldecott Award-winning children's books, noting that one gender is consistently described as beautiful, frightened, worthy, sweet, weak and scared. (Guess which one.) Fine also explains how experiments are manipulated to provide desirable results and how results are presented without necessary caveats (such as the fact that men were not part of the study). This is social science at its hard-working best as Fine uses solid references to refute the notion that biology trumps pervasive stereotyping, and offers a sterling rebuttal to agenda research and the lure of pseudo-science.--Mondor, Colleen Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
With a fabulous combination of wit, passion, and scholar- ship, Fine (A Mind of Its Own) demolishes many of the common theories offered to explain the construction of gender in contemporary society. Taking on everyone from Louann Brizendine in The Female Brain to Cambridge University sex psychologist Simon Baron-Cohen, Fine's analysis convincingly demonstrates that the scientific data simply do not support long-accepted notions about gender differences, such as that women's brains are hard-wired for empathy while men's are not, or that testosterone levels in the womb shape male and female brains differently. She details the ways in which the studies supporting these theories are flawed in construction and interpretation, and can be based on the researcher's biased social notions of gender. Indeed, to the extent that there are gender differences, she discusses how sexism, both subtle and overt, is responsible for them. She shows that the fact that we spend our lives in environments that promote gender differentiation makes those differences nothing more than self-fulfilling prophecies. This marvelous and important book will change the way readers view the gendered world. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Fine (A Mind of Its Own: How Your Brain Distorts and Deceives, 2006) unpacks the myths surrounding differences between male and female brains.Though sex-based judgments are ostensibly archaic, at least in the context of latter-day generalizations, the author combs through the pervasive discrepancies and claims made, differentiating between the way we are born and how patterns of behavior and thought processes are affected by cultural rules. She effectively blows the lid off of old tropes, examining, for instance, the challenges facing women who pursue careers in science and engineering. "Women who are invested in masculine domains," she writes, "often have to perform in the unpleasant and unrewarding atmosphere created by stereotype threat." This threat not only impairs performance, but also decreases the interest in cross-gender activities. As a result, these women have fewer same-gender role models. Like Robert Wright, in his book on evolutionary psychology,The Moral Animal (1994), Fine's greatest strength is her accessible voice and clear structure. Weaving together anecdotes, dense research and quotes from numerous experts, she offers a well-balanced testament to the many ways in which cultural rules inform behaviors often mistaken as organic to our brains, as opposed to learned. Nuanced details like the size difference between male and female brains (the former of which is larger) make a difference, and it's fascinating to discover that so many of these scientific reasons. However, though the work is well-rendered and lucid, it may be too academic for a general audience.A heavy but informative and often surprising study.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
