I acquired and read this book as a paperback long before Amazon became the prime source for my library. I was an undergraduate at the time (early '80s) and I found the material in the text to be highly stimulating and somewhat controversial, given that third wave feminists were becoming empowered and strained to tell us that gender was a social construct. I had many discussions, though some might term them arguments, with fellow students in the university cafes and bars in which I made the obvious point that men and women had recognised their differences for millennia and it now seemed odd that only recently had it become reasonable to assert that, what seemed obvious to our ancestors for generation after generation, was so much tosh and that the whole enterprise was faulty from the start. Our sexual identity was culturally determined. Jessel and Moir had produced a text that I could cite to overcome animated and heated feminists who seemed convinced I was demon-spawn.
I may have loaned my original copy, which was heavily annotated with marginal thinking and lavish use of highlighting pen. It is no longer in my possession. I have become intrigued and mystified by the debate that still rages on this issue. I am as annoyed as I am bemused by what seems to be happening on North American campuses where SJWs seem to be running out of control. I was embarrassed by the feminist inspired critique of Cassie Jays film The Red Pill in my homeland (Australia). I wanted to reacquaint myself with a number of references to help should I again enter the sex-differentiation arena.
I looked at Simon Baron Cohen's work on Amazon and was about to purchase it when I recalled my affection for this neat little book. A quick search showed that it was still available and had been reviewed and republished a number of times since my first exposure. I purchased it rather than Baron Cohen's work, not necessarily because it is superior- I cannot say that- but because I found it so easy to read and I would like my young daughter to understand the material. I may still purchase The Essential Difference, as an added reference, but for the moment I am happy that this book remains relevant and concise.
I cannot recommend it highly enough for anyone interested in refuting the nonsense that passes for argument among the feminist tribes.
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4.5 out of 5
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218 global ratings
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interesting and flawed
Update:I really wish someone would do a good version of this subject. I've just been reading a Scientific America issue about gender/sex, and while there are still 'vested interests' points of view, it is much much better than this. (I've attached photo of cover: September 2017).There is so little balanced work in the field of gender & sex. I liked Mother Nature by HrdyMother Nature: Maternal Instincts and How They Shape the Human Species. It's close to the subject, but not specifically comparative. It's also 15 years old, so some of the research might have been updated.Originally:So, the nature nurture debate goes on, and this book definitely does not end it. There are a lot of interesting lines of thought in this book, and if you're willing to research more, then this is a good collection of starting points (one example is the difference in optical vision range between genders: both depth and peripheral--they claim it's in the rods and cones--which if true is fascinating (as long as you don't get hung up with the ridiculous parallel between hunter/prey, which is stupid, as not intraspecies)).A lot of the conjectures they make are rubbish (and dated). And some of the scientific conclusions are definitely subject to reinterpretation and methodological questioning (eg, Myths Of Gender by Anne Fausto-Sterling 0465047920 Really, both sides (if you care to look at it that way, which most do--by academic/economic necessity) have a vested interest in being 'right', and there is no absolute objectivity in science or social theory (though many claim it). So, a very interesting starting point for further research.
Top reviews from other countries
refugeewurzel
Brilliant, informative, easy read, gender diversity explained with fairness and compassion.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 28, 2017
Xenon 6
What to know why you are gay? Read this book
Reviewed in Australia on January 1, 2022
HART 20
Should be taught in school
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 23, 2022