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Delusions of Gender: How Our Minds, Society, and Neurosexism Create Difference by Cordelia Fine
11corvus11's review
4.0
This book is smart, witty, funny, and necessary. That said, it is extremely frustrating to read a book about neurosexism that is so incredibly ignorant of intersex and transgender people. Part 2 could be trashed entirely or needs to be completely revamped as it contradicts the very informative parts 1 and 3.
Part two fails again and again and ends up upholding the very gender binary she seeks to expose as fraud. She speaks of intersex people being coercively assigned female or male at birth, being nonconsensually put on hormones, and having their genitals surgically mutilated to meet society's gender and sex expectations in dry binary terms without thinking for a second to challenge this abuse of intersex children based entirely in male doctors' discomfort with gender and sex ambiguity- not because they present any danger to children. She also upholds the binary insistently despite acknowledging great sex differences within each person regardless of assigned sex. I'm not saying that I expected her to dismantle the gender binary completely, but is it so odd to assume that someone drawing conclusions about false brain sex differences would also acknowledge this false binary? Also, using intersex and trans peoples bodies as a cool way to study and reinforce false gender binaries goes against the intentions of this book completely. At least, it seems so.
Despite the glaring misunderstandings of intersex people and transgender people, the book gets 4 stars due to it being well written, entertaining, humorous, and well researched, while covering an important topic and debunking a lot of bad science about gender differences. But, Fine really needs to center the experience of more transgender, intersex, queer, multiracial, and other people of diverse class backgrounds for her book to make the necessary statements it seeks to make.
Note- I read the first edition. There is a tiny chance she may have addressed these issues in a later edition.
Part two fails again and again and ends up upholding the very gender binary she seeks to expose as fraud. She speaks of intersex people being coercively assigned female or male at birth, being nonconsensually put on hormones, and having their genitals surgically mutilated to meet society's gender and sex expectations in dry binary terms without thinking for a second to challenge this abuse of intersex children based entirely in male doctors' discomfort with gender and sex ambiguity- not because they present any danger to children. She also upholds the binary insistently despite acknowledging great sex differences within each person regardless of assigned sex. I'm not saying that I expected her to dismantle the gender binary completely, but is it so odd to assume that someone drawing conclusions about false brain sex differences would also acknowledge this false binary? Also, using intersex and trans peoples bodies as a cool way to study and reinforce false gender binaries goes against the intentions of this book completely. At least, it seems so.
Despite the glaring misunderstandings of intersex people and transgender people, the book gets 4 stars due to it being well written, entertaining, humorous, and well researched, while covering an important topic and debunking a lot of bad science about gender differences. But, Fine really needs to center the experience of more transgender, intersex, queer, multiracial, and other people of diverse class backgrounds for her book to make the necessary statements it seeks to make.
Note- I read the first edition. There is a tiny chance she may have addressed these issues in a later edition.
fee_jay's review
5.0
Fabulous. Must read. Especially for people who are comfortable with buying into essentialised differences and the whole pink princess crap.
seclement's review
4.0
This is a systematic take-down of all the stereotypes backed by so-called evidence that we see every day, by an actual expert in her field. You know, all the "women are x....and men are y" such as "women are intuitive, feeling creatures who have poor spatial awareness, but men are systematic thinkers who break down rationally and can navigate like compasses". It's an informed but entertaining look at all the rubbish that is published in popular books and the media, trying to explain away gender dynamics, pay gaps, and the general lack of success in getting women in higher ranking STEM positions in certain countries. (Note: that "certain countries" should be a clue. Women perform better than men in many countries where the beliefs that women = arts and humanities and men = science and math are simply not part of the zeitgeist.)
This is a book you have to be open to reading, but not so open that your mind falls out. And I mean genuinely open to many ideas, e.g. the notion that perhaps no research has accurately teased out the separation between nature and nurture, and even the idea that this isn't possible. I read some scathing reviews online, which initially put me off, but I realised that almost all of those reviews were by men or the anti-SJW mob, who felt assaulted by the idea that someone would have the audacity to question the robustness of the beliefs they have held so dear, which underpin their views of the world.
The one reason I gave this a 4 instead of 5 star reason is that I felt that it became too repetitive. I debated this, as I know that Dr Fine did this because she knew she would be vehemently challenged, so she kept revisiting the same territory. But for a reader, I will say that the sections became a bit repetitive, which almost muddled the points she was trying to make, as the separation between topics - and thus the clarity of her key points - became less obvious. But overall, I would say this book is the best primer that I have read to date on how people misinterpret and misuse evidence - and how scientists struggle to collect robust evidence -on the topic of gender and neuroscience. It wasn't a surprise to me that people misuse evidence to affirm their poor treatment of the opposite sex, but it was enlightening to read a systematic analysis of why that 'evidence' is often not robust, nor is it telling us the story we seem to think is so clear. I love complexity and nuance, so if you do too, then this is the book for you. If you still think men are from Mars and women are from Venus, then it may be that this book isn't for you. Read it when/if you are ready. Dr Fine isn't speaking to everyone, but if you are on the fence, then she's definitely speaking to you.
This is a book you have to be open to reading, but not so open that your mind falls out. And I mean genuinely open to many ideas, e.g. the notion that perhaps no research has accurately teased out the separation between nature and nurture, and even the idea that this isn't possible. I read some scathing reviews online, which initially put me off, but I realised that almost all of those reviews were by men or the anti-SJW mob, who felt assaulted by the idea that someone would have the audacity to question the robustness of the beliefs they have held so dear, which underpin their views of the world.
The one reason I gave this a 4 instead of 5 star reason is that I felt that it became too repetitive. I debated this, as I know that Dr Fine did this because she knew she would be vehemently challenged, so she kept revisiting the same territory. But for a reader, I will say that the sections became a bit repetitive, which almost muddled the points she was trying to make, as the separation between topics - and thus the clarity of her key points - became less obvious. But overall, I would say this book is the best primer that I have read to date on how people misinterpret and misuse evidence - and how scientists struggle to collect robust evidence -on the topic of gender and neuroscience. It wasn't a surprise to me that people misuse evidence to affirm their poor treatment of the opposite sex, but it was enlightening to read a systematic analysis of why that 'evidence' is often not robust, nor is it telling us the story we seem to think is so clear. I love complexity and nuance, so if you do too, then this is the book for you. If you still think men are from Mars and women are from Venus, then it may be that this book isn't for you. Read it when/if you are ready. Dr Fine isn't speaking to everyone, but if you are on the fence, then she's definitely speaking to you.
maisoncetacea's review against another edition
4.0
If you've ever wanted for a witty, hilarious, super-smart psychologist to eviscerate every smug pop-psych study you've ever read on "male" and "female" brains, Cordelia Fine is the person to call. Culling research spanning decades, and casting important parallels between "research" we now completely disavow (e.g., Victorian proclamations of women lacking the physical makeup necessary for political participation), Fine has written a powerful tome that brings some much-needed skepticism to the field.
While the book may be difficult if you are used to the breathless exhilaration of most pop-psych books, Fine makes the careful examination of faulty research as vital as possible. The truth, she notes, is that behind the grand proclamations modern neuropsychologists make about sex and the brain, there is a plethora of research that is often inconclusive, carelessly performed, or hopelessly subjected to scientists' all-too-human confirmation biases.
Are women's brains less well-suited for careers in computer science, or are they simply unable to manage high performance under the weight of significant stereotype threat?
Do newborn boys naturally focus more on a mobile versus a human face, or was the methodology of the experiment flawed in presenting each stimulus separately versus together?
And how on Earth would newborn primates be able to know that a cooking pan is supposed to be a "girlish" toy, anyway?
Admittedly, I struggled to stay engaged with the book start-to-finish, because the content of such a book is not always the most exciting. Then again, I didn't much expect it to be; these studies seldom are, which may be the point. Fine seems to be equally invested in calling out the absurdity of scientists' implicit motives in their research: why are we still so invested in confirming the naturalness of female inferiority, anyway? Perhaps that is for us to answer on our own, and she certainly provides food for thought. What kinds of questions do we eclipse in looking so hard for differences that remain elusive? As Fine notes, "ironically, perhaps it is not biology that is the implacably resistant counterforce [to a gender egalitarian society], but our culturally attuned minds." This encapsulates neatly what her message in this book is, and is the best reason to read it. Recommended for anyone who seeks to demystify the "science" of gender difference, and those who wish to become better researchers of the subject.
While the book may be difficult if you are used to the breathless exhilaration of most pop-psych books, Fine makes the careful examination of faulty research as vital as possible. The truth, she notes, is that behind the grand proclamations modern neuropsychologists make about sex and the brain, there is a plethora of research that is often inconclusive, carelessly performed, or hopelessly subjected to scientists' all-too-human confirmation biases.
Are women's brains less well-suited for careers in computer science, or are they simply unable to manage high performance under the weight of significant stereotype threat?
Do newborn boys naturally focus more on a mobile versus a human face, or was the methodology of the experiment flawed in presenting each stimulus separately versus together?
And how on Earth would newborn primates be able to know that a cooking pan is supposed to be a "girlish" toy, anyway?
Admittedly, I struggled to stay engaged with the book start-to-finish, because the content of such a book is not always the most exciting. Then again, I didn't much expect it to be; these studies seldom are, which may be the point. Fine seems to be equally invested in calling out the absurdity of scientists' implicit motives in their research: why are we still so invested in confirming the naturalness of female inferiority, anyway? Perhaps that is for us to answer on our own, and she certainly provides food for thought. What kinds of questions do we eclipse in looking so hard for differences that remain elusive? As Fine notes, "ironically, perhaps it is not biology that is the implacably resistant counterforce [to a gender egalitarian society], but our culturally attuned minds." This encapsulates neatly what her message in this book is, and is the best reason to read it. Recommended for anyone who seeks to demystify the "science" of gender difference, and those who wish to become better researchers of the subject.
charlottemeo's review against another edition
3.0
This was an absolute slog for me because I don’t have enough background knowledge on the science, but it was still good, especially the stuff on children and gender