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The Female Brain

By Louann Brizendine

(17)

| Paperback | 9780767920100

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Critics

How Women Think

The worst thing you could do when my mother was in one of her moods was to point out that she got cranky when she had her period. “I am not just a bunch of chemicals!” she’d yell. My brother, who even at 12 believed in the sanctity of data, decided t ... (read full critics)

nytimes published on Sat, 18 Sep 2010

1 Review

2 people find this helpful

A sexist writer

This is an interesting book, but it suffers from a few serious issues:
* It’s definitively a sexist book. Some section clearly offend the male sensitivity (Yes dear Louann, males can have some sensitivity!). The author describes male sexuality as a “simple hydraulic device” (may be she simply met ... (continue)

This is an interesting book, but it suffers from a few serious issues:
* It’s definitively a sexist book. Some section clearly offend the male sensitivity (Yes dear Louann, males can have some sensitivity!). The author describes male sexuality as a “simple hydraulic device” (may be she simply met the wrong men).
* The author promotes a mechanistic and simplistic view of the human brain. She doesn't really believe in neuroplasticity, preferring the old school localizationist. Whatever is your problem, a few hormones and the usual antidepressant pills can fix it. IMHO humans should not viewed as a simple chemical device, I believe we are slightly more complex...
* The author use of evolution and human history to sustain her theories is very poor. She describes all sort of silly theories based on the evolution of the human and female brain assuming that human life has always been the same as today. Sorry Louann, our ancestors didn't go shopping, they didn't live in suburbia, neither they became grandparents at 50 (the average life was 30-35!).
* Despite the ridiculously long appendix with over 60 pages of bibliographical references, many of her statements are unsubstantiated, poorly documented, and lacking references. She offers her opinions as facts, with an excessive self-confident attitude. A more soft approach and more open mind would have made this book much more enjoyable.
Despite those limitations the book is a very rich source of information, ideas.

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Franco Folini said on Aug 19, 2009 | Add your feedback