Name: g.m.'s review of The Gendered Brain by Gina Rippon
Item: The Gendered Brain
Rating: 3
Author: g.m.

Gina Rippon

Gendered brains: a sexist myth, or a fact of life? Reading maps or reading emotions? Barbie or Lego? We live in a gendered world where we are bombarded with messages about sex and gender. The belief that your gender determines your skills and preferences, and even if you've got what it takes to become a scientist, is deeply engrained. But what does this constant gendering mean for our thoughts, decisions and behaviour? And what does it mean for our brains? Drawing on her life's work as a Professor of Cognitive Neuroimaging, Gina Rippon unpacks the stereotypes that bombard us from our earliest moments and shows how these messages mould our ideas of ourselves and even shape our brains. Taking us back through centuries of sexism, The Gendered Brain reveals how science has been misinterpreted or misused to ask the wrong questions. Instead of challenging the status quo, we are still working back from outdated stereotypes and assumptions. However, by exploring new, cutting-edge neuroscience, Rippon urges us to move beyond a binary view of our brains and instead to see these complex organs as highly individualised, profoundly adaptable, and full of unbounded potential. Rigorous, timely and liberating, The Gendered Brain has huge repercussions for women and men, for parents and children, and for how we identify ourselves. This is not feminist science - it's just science.

The New Neuroscience that Shatters the Myth of the Female Brain

The Gendered Brain

Barbie or Lego? Reading maps or reading emotions? Do you have a female brain or a male brain? Or is that the wrong question? On a daily basis we face deeply ingrained beliefs that our sex determines our skills and preferences, from toys and colours to career choice and salaries. But what does this mean for our thoughts, decisions and behaviour? Using the latest cutting-edge neuroscience, Gina Rippon unpacks the stereotypes that bombard us from our earliest moments and shows how these messages mould our ideas of ourselves and even shape our brains. Rigorous, timely and liberating, The Gendered Brain has huge repercussions for women and men, for parents and children, and for how we identify ourselves. ‘Highly accessible... Revolutionary to a glorious degree’ Observer

The new neuroscience that shatters the myth of the female brain

Lauren

Amelia Halliday

Not my typical book, admittedly I did find the more in-depth scientific content difficult to digest, but I am glad that I read it. Sometimes I do put some "blind faith" in science, and it was valuable to learn how to assess these results with a critical lens. 

g.m.

'The Gendered Brain’ focuses on ‘shattering the myth of the female brain’, but really it’s about dismantling all myths/psychobabble/neurobullshit/etc. relating to the role of sex (and gender, and all the many crossovers)

I loved this read. It was thorough, analysing and criticising methods and perspectives from as far back as some of the origins of such [mis]conceptions. Allowing for both the ‘hard’ science of biological contributors, and the role of environment, social influence- ‘softer’ scientific arguments. Both are equally important (well, debatable, but we move) and Rippon discussed both in great detail, referencing and critiquing relevant studies when applicable.

The breadth, and in times depth, covered by ‘The Gendered Brain’ made for a fascinating read the entire way through- providing what feels like quite the comprehensive report on gender bias, beliefs, and the impact on each respective sex. It covers the science, the life impact, and everything inbetween. It really makes you think and ruminate, even after you've finished reading.

Admittedly, there were times I felt I’d heard some of this before, or that it could do with less explaining- which is how I get to the only criticism I really had for this book: the target audience feels somewhat unclear.

On one hand, the language used and terms references are specific to certain fields of study (scientific in nature) and aren’t explained in enough detail for the layperson- however, enough explanatory detail is given in other circumstances that would feel unnecessary for a target reader who is studied in a relevant subject. As such, a middle ground is established where the explanations can feel like either too much or too little.

In spite of this, it still makes for a brilliant read that unpicks many common gender-difference misconceptions, and explains how these beliefs and ‘findings’ came about. Balanced, yet with clear direction and argument (supported thoroughly by the science) I’d recommend this, but as long as you have an interest in the subject!

Amelia Halliday &
The Gendered Brain by Gina Rippon

Reviews

Highlights

Join the club

Amelia Halliday &The Gendered Brain by Gina Rippon

Reviews

Highlights

Join the club

Amelia Halliday &
The Gendered Brain by Gina Rippon