7.8 /10 1 Votes7.8
4.1/5 Publication date 2006 ISBN 0-7679-2009-0 Originally published 2006 Page count 187 OCLC 63660885 | 3.8/5 Goodreads Publisher Morgan Road Books Media type Print (hardcover) LC Class QP376 .B755 2006 Dewey decimal 612.8 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Pages 187, 210 including notes. Similar Science books, Brain books |
The Female Brain is a 2006 book by the American neuropsychiatrist Louann Brizendine. The main thesis of the book is that women’s behavior is different from that of men due, in large measure, to hormonal differences. Brizendine says that the human female brain is affected by the following hormones: estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, (oxytocin), neurotransmitters (dopamine, serotonin), and that there are difference in the architecture of the brain (prefrontal cortex, hypothalamus, amygdala) that regulates such hormones and neurotransmitters.
Contents
Structure
The Female Brain includes seven chapters, each one of which is dedicated to a specific part of a woman’s life such as puberty, motherhood, and menopause, or a specific dimension of a women’s emotional life such as feelings, love and trust, and sex. The book also includes three appendices on hormone therapy, postpartum depression, and sexual orientation.
Reception
The book sold well but received mixed reviews, because there was some controversy from feminist writers about the validity of some the content. Some of the authors that supported the content of the book include:
Some of the authors that criticized the content of the book include:
Academic feminists have given mixed reviews to The Female Brain. Brizendine was given the tongue-in-cheek 2006 Becky Award, which is given to "people or organizations who have made outstanding contributions to linguistic misinformation". The award cited errors in The Female Brain, including one sentence (removed from subsequent printings) which contrasted the number of words used by men and women in one day. The numbers had been taken from a book by a self-help guru and were incorrect.
Response to criticisms
Brizendine later made some concessions to those who felt that this book overemphasised gender-based differences, saying: "Males and females are more alike than there are differences. After all, we are the same species".