Customer Reviews

Sexing the Brain

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Lesley Roger's message is loud and clear - how we behave (as a community, as a male or female, as heterosexual or homosexual - even as asexual.......) is dependent on so many factors - environmental, cultural, hormonal .... Any attempt to reduce behaviour to one of these factors is misguided.

Consequently the book debunks or challenges much that has been investigated in a search to show the influence (and for some, determination) of biological factors such as hormones. Perhaps my biggest disappointment in the book is that so much of it attacks research results rather than use research results that support the message. And disappointment I did have in the book, even though I agree with much that I read (such as the criticism of Matt Ridley's 'The Red Queen').

But hormones do affect behaviour - of that there can be no doubt. Consequently men and women - as groups - will be different. What hormones don't do is dominate behaviour.

While scientific investigation is supposed to be dispassionate, in reality science's claims about sex and gender differences have more reflected cultural standards than objective research: that's the contention of Lesley Rogers' Sexing The Brain which shows how the interplay between culture, environment and behavior contributes to gender trends. Sex biasing errors are surveyed, with studies backing her probe.

This is an excellent book for anyone that has ever wondered whether there really is any difference between the sexes when it comes to mental capacity and mental processes.

The authors willingness to examine the research, data, and methodologies that sit behind the headlines is excellent. Also the links she draws between cultural belief and research methodologies is also insightful.

If you want to win sexist arguments, this book should be in your armoury.

I was disappointed by this book because I was misled by the title and the opening statement to think that author would provide some insights into the gender differentiations of the brain. Instead, this book is *all* about disputing the scientific researches which I already knew though not to the extents of the book. A more appropriate subtitle might have been "The limitations of scientific research and the flaws of applying the research results for one's political views".

It has been said that it is impossible to understand the brain by a brain. While we are making small steps in understanding of our brain functions, we should be careful not to draw conclusions beyond what we really know. To that, this book gives ample examples.