Brain Sex : The Real Difference Between Men and Women

Rating:
Summary: New justification for old prejudice
Review: Annie Moir, with whatever input by David Jessel recycles all the usual anti-men prejudice and stereotypes in a new package with new "scientific" justifications. Whether it's families or jobs or relationships, they never seem to get past a paragraph without inserting a gratuitous men bashing comment. Often the men bashing goes on for many paragraphs in a row, and usually shows almost no actual knowledge of men. They use recent research on brain physiology to "prove" their two theses, 1) men are bad, and 2) women belong in the kitchen with the kids. Men will find the first thesis galling and hateful all the way through. Feminists who think women don't belong in the kitchen will find much of the book equally abhorrent.

Rating:
Summary: New justification for old prejudice
Review: Annie Moir, with whatever input by David Jessel recycles all the usual anti-men prejudice and stereotypes in a new package with new "scientific" justifications. Whether it's families or jobs or relationships, they never seem to get past a paragraph without inserting a gratuitous men bashing comment. Often the men bashing goes on for many paragraphs in a row, and usually shows almost no actual knowledge of men. They use recent research on brain physiology to "prove" their two theses, 1) men are bad, and 2) women belong in the kitchen with the kids. Men will find the first thesis galling and hateful all the way through. Feminists who think women don't belong in the kitchen will find much of the book equally abhorrent.

Rating:
Summary: Not just your typical self-help book!
Review: Brain Sex, with its intriguing title, explores the exact differences- biological and psychological- that divide the male and female sexes. It explores the way humans are expected to live by the stereotypes prescibed for them at birth by society.

Why are men and women so different? Why do we think so differently from one another and seem to live in completely different worlds most of the time? The answer lies in biology- the way males and females are constructed. The book then goes on to talk about male/ female relationships.

This is a book that will have you thinking about its contents long after you've put it down; I had to read it several times in order to comprehend the full scope of this book. Brain Sex is a book that every person- man and women- should have on their nightstand. Its a great reference, and; although a bit out of date, is a great resource to understanding the depth and scope of male/ female relationships.

Rating:
Summary: Biological Strength and Weakness
Review: Recognizing that men and women are different has never been the problem of humankind. Genetically, we were always predisposed to ascertaining the difference, by hormones, if by nothing else. What mankind does with that knowledge, and how he or she pursues the ideological ideal has been the perpetual distinction of whether mankind is strong or weak, by the actions of every individual in being confronted with that reality, just as it is in the area of race relations, ethnic relations, or in the very distinction of recognizing humans as different from plants and animals. The history written illustrates not only our internal strength of character, or its weakness, but also reveals priorities, methods, and sense of justice, including our propensity to indulge while others suffer under known facts and attitudes as well as their inclination to further explore the truths yet uncovered. To the extent that such an inquiry reveals the extent of our humanity is socially and politically everyone's business, and perhaps, everyone's obligation. The report card to date has been less than admirable for any of us, given the intellectual protocol by which we tend to measure excellence in anything else. The pretense shows and tends to reflect badly upon all of us, the few ridiculed purists, excepted, of course.

Rating:
Summary: how sexism shapes research..
Review: The book is just bad for society.What good does it do to
tell people they have one of four choices:female brain,
male brain,or if you're lucky enough,male with a female
brain,and female with a male brain.
Somewhere in this tangled mess of a book they forgot to
inform us that spatial and verbal brains are different
regardless of wether the person is a man or woman.
It's like playing gender Russian roulette.On one hand the
writers insist a person can be a female and have a male

brain,on the other hand a person can be male and have a
female brain.Since they find it highly unlikely for a female
to have a male brain,they tell you you're a sort of
cross over,you are a sort of odd person not following a
pattern or brain structure proper for your gender,or is it
sex?The word play in this book is of course confusing on
purpose,so the readers out there become so lost in word
play as to be unaware of how their brains are being washed
by this material.
I've read many books about "sex differences" lately.The
reason I'm doing this is to see how we are manipulated by
the media and written word in general.
Try reading this book and you will see how the writers
play with words and jump around.
The premise of the book is to fix people into opposing
groups,men and women.The agenda is clear.It's a money maker
because of the Western world obsession with "sex differences"
One thing which I found hilarous "sex is in the body" "gender is

the brain" and it seems as though if you don't have the right
body attached to the right brain,then you're a mismatch.
Written to confuse readers.
There are spatial brains and verbal brains and they can
reside in either a man or woman.What is very deceptive is
how the writers don't tell you about the different structures of
the verbal and spatial brain,and how they can be in either sex,
or is it gender?

Rating:
Summary: A must read for everyone
Review: This book has completely changed my outlook on the male-female relationship. Contrary to what the ultra-feminists who rated this book as a '1' have stated, what I, and my wife as well, have obtained from Brain Sex is a greater appreciation for the differences between men and women. What Moir and Jessel present is not a sexist portrayal of gender role but a celebration to the wonderful complementary roles that men and women were created for. Of course there is social 'engineering' that people in every society go through, but it about time we understand the reason why every society of significant size in human history has developed with similarly defined gender roles was not accidental but to make use of each gender's specific strengths and weaknesses. And although technology has opened up many barriers for women with each generation, it doesn't mean that biological differences have changed. Unlike these ultra-feminists who call women to try and play on the same exact field with men in order to achieve recognition, Moir and Jessel are instead urging us that we should recognize and celebrate women for playing on the fields that they alone could have played on throughout human history. Rejecting female uniqueness will only hinder real female liberation in the long run.

P.S. They should make this a mandatory read for everyone soon to be married couple, as I have gained a vast understanding and appreciation for my wife's innate female idiosyncrasies. She has also said the same about my quirks.

Rating:
Summary: People fear the truth of this book!
Review: This book is a must-read for anyone interested in truth. However, it does not necessarily contain a pleasant truth (neither to men nor women). The amount of fear stemming from this book is not to be unexpected. It does, after all, deal with one of the most controversial subjects you can find. Just reading over the reviews here after reading the book for yourself will reveal the amount of paranoia associated with the knowledge contained.

Many people are trying to break down the validity of this book by claiming it to be a pseudo-scientific product of sexism. I quote from one reader:

"There was once, in Germany, an incredible number of evidences suporting how physiologies of the pure race and "others" were different. In the USA, science, "inspired" by that time period and that time's politics, attempted to show how blacks (and immigrants and all others who were not a member of upper-middle class heterosexual male group) were inferior."

First of all, these so-called scientific attempts at justifying the superiority of one race over another were conducted during a time of hatred and oppression with support from the general population. In Germany, scientists were even commissioned by the government to create these falsehoods. To compare this book (which was reluctantly written by a geneticist living in times of a feminist uproar with the goal of shedding some research in a dark area) with that kind of racist-inspired nonsense, is ludicrous. This is the type of fear you find from readers who cannot accept this book's overall message: that men and women actually think and behave differently.

If this book was inspired by a period, then this book would be a direct pseudo-scientific attempt at justifying feminist ideals because this is precisely what Anne Moir was surrounded by at the time she began her research. Well, this is absolutely not the case. If the book is sexist, which sex does it incriminate against and why? No one can answer this question with agreeably because the author had no intent of showing one sex to be superior to the other.

This book was written by a woman with the intent of seeking truth. While there are attempts to put forth some logical interpretations based on the research, this book has, at its core, many fundamental truths supported by compelling, scientific evidence. This book is not perfect; a lot of it is just an open discussion, but to deny it as simply a biased product of sexism only serves to strengthen the book to people who actually read it with an open mind.

You can practically see after the first 10 pages or so how much the author wanted to repress some of the research because of the controversy it would create (or perhaps simply her own personal fear of what it would mean), but the evidence speaks for itself.

One thing people really need to keep in mind is that the book is about generalities, and it is examining men and women in terms of actual *biological differences*. Lots of reviewers here are trying to refute the validity of the book because they don't share all the traits associated with their sex. This book is focusing from the nature side of the argument, not the nurture side! There are tons of sociological effects that affect the way a person turns out. I would venture to say that the differences between a grown man and woman have more to do with sociology than biology (though you can't refute the fact that men and women are actually built differently). This book is not about that. Of course a typical woman can become superior to men at mathematical reasoning. Of course a typical man can become superior to women at judging other people's character. This book is about the real, biological differences between a man and a woman - the type of differences that will still exist even if you strip away all social barriers.

Another example of the irrational attempts to put this book down comes from one reviewer who claimed that this book attributed the discovery of America to Columbus:

"The authors wrote that Columbus discovered America. This is known to be false. Columbus did not discover America as Native Americans were already living on this continent as every person knows. To not clarify or change that statement in the book makes all other given information questionable. If the authors can't get the facts of history correct, then how can we be expected to trust in the rest of the book."

I don't wish to put people down, but in defense of the book, that person needs to read more carefully. The book reads, "[...] Rather as Columbus might have regarded his discovery of America as something of an irrelevance [...]" That makes no claim that Columbus discovered America! I'm not even going to go through the trouble of trying to explain the difference because I think the person is well aware of this. I think that such a person will read this book with spite and will look for the first thing that will allow him or her to put it down. Quibbling over a historical statement from a geneticist, especially when taken out of context, is evidence of the kind of close-minded mentality that will unfortunately keep this book's message from ever being accepted by the general population.

Rating:
Summary: Differences and Similarities
Review: This book is an eye-opener. I've read John Gray, Deborah Tannen, Carl Jung, etc. on gender and other human differences, but this approach was unexpected. I believe that some differences between the sexes are actually between Thinkers and Feelers (most men are T's and most women are F's) and that people confuse the preference differences for gender differences (traits). I still do. But, this book adds another dimension to the fray--brain biology. It does fill in many gaps in understanding gender-related differences, especially the apparent anomalies left by the psychological theories of gender differences. Interestingly, I am now listening to the audio tapes of the 28 Oct. 1993 Jung Institute of Chicago Conference on Gender. Tape #527 is a talk entitled, "Moving Forward Into the Past: The Dissolution of Traditional Gender Constructions" by Helen Fisher. Ms. Fisher is a Cultural Anthropologist, not a Jungian or a psychologist. The thrust of her lecture was that much of the changes we are seeing in present American society regarding gender are merely a return to prior modes of living (in relation to gender roles) that were upset when the plow was invented and humans moved out of the hunter-gatherer gender-related roles. I think that one might consider all of these perspectives (psychological, biological, anthropological, etc.) before reaching any definitive conclusions about gender differences. Further, statistics are extraordinarily important in evaluating differences (i.e. translating information into knowledge). "Brain Sex" provides a fascinating, though somewhat shocking additional and valuable piece to this complex puzzle.

Rating:
Summary: Intriguing
Review: Yes, I know this book is controversial. And I read all the reviews about it and was a bit apalled. Yes, OF COURSE there are individual differences between every single being on this planet. And of course no one person should be judged on their sex, however this book does not set out to show that all women should be in the kitchen baking cakes and all men should be out bringing home the bread, it simply is attempting to paint a clear picture of the innate differences between men and women. Why is it that differences between men and women is such a terrible horrible thing? I don't see it reversing all of the progress made by women in the past 30 years, however I may see it celebrate the gifts that both sexes can bring, and not see it as superiority or inferiority! Males and Females were made to compliment eachother, NOT be the same in all respects. Not every person will fit every trait given in this book, and they didnt say sex was based on genitals! Its based on THE BRAIN. Its a wonderful book hehe. Read it.