The Female Brain by Louann Brizendine M.D. Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Female Brain
Book Review: generalizations and a little too much "intuition"
Summary: 2 Stars
Nurture molds nature after birth. The fact that girls at a very young age are made aware of their place and (lesser) value in the world has a strong influence on their need to check for safety. Continual, careful reading of the faces around them is one way to do this. We live in a global culture of sexualized violence and rape, mainly aimed at girls and women, They must navigate a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT world then men do which directly effects and modifies their behavior and interpretation of events that most boys and men would see as benign and unmemorable. Womanhood is a social construct. It must be taught and indoctrinated just as manhood must be.
In her analysis of woman as sexual beings, again, interpretation is everything; from the potency of hormonal washes to cultural influences. Women are aware of sex at the least, everytime they press their thighs together or press against their breasts. As it is inappropriate from an early age for females to express sexuality--for a variety of reasons and for which in many countries they may be killed or given an earlier than usual clitorectomy, much of the mind-body sexual translation is suppressed; feeling is not allowed to be associated with action. Sexual feelings may be interpreted as literal hunger or emotional loneliness and a cookie is immediately grabbed instead of an appropriate sexual object. Yet in many studies women were measured to be more sexually responsive to visuals than men--they just didn't have the connect to their body to recognize it! If women were interviewed about the time it took them to orgasm through self-pleasuring versus the time it took with a partner, we would again understand some of female sexual reticence. When one's sexual partner is more often than not portrayed and permitted to be one's predator, how easy would it be to see sex.....as simply sex. These forms of terrorism against women are intended and systematic. This is where the "war" on terror should really begin and a fulcrum for much research analysis.
The mommy brain comes off as an old time fairy tale. Women have to be trained to breast feed! Many many women are ambivalent about the birth of their child and have to learn to pay appropriate attention to them. Unfortunately, since the bulk of care giving is forced on women, this helps lead to the unending circle of abuse between adults and children, and adults between adults. Community and government must help support all functions of childcare.
All in all, read the book, enjoy the anecdotes and generalizations made from her thriving clinic,as one reads anything interesting. One wonders the economic class and geographic location of the research participants.
....And researchers and physicians, in the name of science assume you are wrong about most of what you think is right, when it comes to female physiology and psychology. Let a little "human intuition" be your guide.
Book Review: good neuroscience and fun to read
Summary: 5 Stars
great book, a real contribution. easy and fun to read, but excellent science as well. I found the chapter on the "mature brain" helpful with navigating through my own menopausal transition. I am a pscyhiatric nurse practitioner and have a special interest and expertise in women's mental health. I would highly recommend this to my patients, but also have recommended it to friends and colleagues.
Book Review: not sure I have brain envy...but I liked the book anyway
Summary: 4 Stars
the premise of the book, that women are these amazing communication machines, is more of marketing ploy than anything else. there's some interesting evolutionary adaptation that seems to play out in the social structures of women, but that's pretty obvious to anyone who's read anything about evolution prior to this. the interesting stuff is really how hormones "cook" the brain into its male, female, or in-between biological versions. I suppose it's also a good way to understand why women tend to lust after the wrong kinds of men. I'd read Before The Dawn before reading this, and take this for what it is--a pretty light read on a very heavy topic.Book Review: the female brain
Summary: 5 Stars
Simply brilliant readable discussion of the hormonal and other psychological substrates of human females. Well written to the general reader. Most folks that graduated high school will be able to follow the concepts and explanations cited. For women this is an owners' manual, for men a potential clue bag.
Paul Finlayson