Customer Reviews

The Difference: Discovering the Hidden Ways We Silence Girls - Finding Alternatives That Can Give Them a Voice

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1 star:		(5)

 

 

One would be unable to find an author who does not reflect any bias in thier writing. It is important that this book is not disregarded as invalid because the author has convictions. Infact, her feminist bias and insightful critiques ought be acknowledged to be as legitimate as biases reflecting the status quo.

Judy Mann does a great job of stringing child psychologist's opinions and numerous scientific studies to provoke thought in the reader. She makes it clear that she did not start research of this book with a bias one way or the other and it is quite obvious when she discusses her observance of her daughter being her reason for writing this book, contrary to what many other reviewers claim. It is not a common occurence to find a general audience book that is so backed by scientific evidence. She discusses controversial issues, such as the evidence that sex segregated could benefit young girls (and boys for that matter). The concept of sex segregrated schools died with the feminist movement of the 70s, as did anything sex segregrated. When considering this, the claims that she is spreading feminist propaganda is utterly ridiculous. She throws traditional feminist ideas out the window when they need to be, when the scientific data suggests otherwise. Additional topics include girl's lack of interest in science and math (something I find true, being one of few girls in my college with a physics major), methods we can infiltrate that would benefit girls and their learning styles, how blurring gender lines completely can be detrimental to a child's indentity, she gives an account of a day in the life of a Madeira School student, and scientific data that gives evidence that girls are overlooked in the classroom. Reading this book is a service to your children, for they will surely benefit from a parent that is aware of their childhood issues and their education system, and its downfalls. Mann does not beg the reader to agree with her, she puts forth the information; whether you agree or not is up to you.

PS. The reason I was compelled to write this review was due to the incorrect information that other reviewers have written, reviewers that wrote both positive and negative reviews. It seems that some people have jumped on reviewing this book without even reading it, probably because of much of it hits on controversial issues. If you haven't read the book, didn't feel that you understood the book, only flipped through the book, or assume the author's opinion on things not even discussed in the book, such as abortion, DON'T WRITE A REVIEW. You are influencing people that could actually learn something from it.

Judy Mann writes from a feminist perspective, but this book is not "propaganda"--and her views about raising girls in America build on the research of many other responsible scholars. I assigned it for a class & every student (including those who declared themselves emphatically "not a feminist") found it thought provoking and worth reading.

The author, Judy Mann, has daughters of her own, and as they came to her with problems in their own lives, the author realized that she could not protect them from gender bias and sexism. So she set about to explore the difference. The book makes some sweeping statements, some of which seem challenging and controversial, but all the time she keeps things in persepctive, continues to tie the reader back in with the experiences of her own children. I can't say I agree with all of her suggestions, but I respect her for writing this amazing book.

I read Mann's book years ago before I had children, and I found her book incredibly thought-provoking then. Even my husband, who normally does not like her writings found this book worth his time and everyone's, whether you have boys or girls. Is her book biased towards girls? Well, the book is about girls, their struggles and how we can all help our girls succeed, so yes she focuses on girls and their struggles. Yes, in a perfect world, success or failure should be only determined by your own will power and hard work. Just because there are female authors doesn't mean there is no bias or prejudice against women. We do not live in a perfect world without bias or prejudice. What I really like about this book is that she doesn't just present problems, but offers suggestions for different ways of thinking and doing things. When the world becomes perfect and everyone is treated fairly and equally, then we can afford to ignore different opinions that may or may not upset our worldviews.

The author has provided an important perspective on the difference between growing up female and growing up male in America. Unfortunately, much of her information is now dated and other aspects are distorted. The best part of the book is the emphasis that there definitely are differences in the way boys and girls are brought up and that affects us throughout life.

The second positive part of the book is that Judy Mann cites evidence that shows boys and girls learn differently. She urges same gender schools, which I agree would be beneficial to both boys and girls educationally. Sadly, the same Title IX that has helped so many girls by providing sports opportunities has been interpretted to mean that separate gender schools are a violation of the law.

Several parts of the book are out-of-date now (2009). Notably, She talks about teaching math in the manner that best aids girls rather than boys. This is now standard practice in many areas of the country and the results are what would be expected - girls are now doing better in math and because of the natural advantages boys have in math, their test scores have remained basically the same. However, neither boys nor girls are going into engineering or science at anywhere near the rate needed for today's economy.

The author expresses surprise that boys raised in a gender neutral environment sometimes express the desire to become like their mothers rather than their fathers. What else would you expect? They can see that there are advantages that women have, even if feminists and many others deny this.

I was very disappointed by the misinformation she presented about religions. Particularly Christianity, which she portrayed as centered on the death of a man, rather than on his resurrection. She also valued the legends of the various goddesses above the historically valid accounts of the Bible. The fact that Jesus elevated women above the status provided by any other religion is completely ignored.

Therefore, I must conclude that there are better gender books you could read.

the subject has been dealt in a very shallow matter. She takes anecdotal example to prove her point. That one person decide to help her son instead of her daughter by providing extra tutoring does not mean that all families are biased toward their sons when it comes to education.
The one-dimentionality of her thought is apparent when she declares that monotheisim is the cause to women fall and then showing that Aristotal he is the father of the concept of the inferiority of women.

With her daughter in tow, judy mann sees the world from only one perspective, the female. Her research is almost ridiculous..she blames a little girls passivity on how her father holds her. Mann becomes angry discussing how fathers in India favor male children, yet lauds the role of women years ago who decided whether a child should live or die...Mann finishes her book by mentioning how in pre-history women led society in a "Vision Quest" what ever that is. a totally useless book.

if this is like her other books I would urge readers not to pick this up. Judy Mann is a highly biased writer, who sees only one perspective, her own.

Judy Mann is a extremely biased writer, while professing to see both sides of gender relations she maintains that women are the perpetual victims of men, according to Mann a woman has the right to abort her child, but when a male insists on that right he is considered a chauvenist.