The Female Brain
by Louann Brizendine M.D.
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Book Reviews of The Female Brain
Book Review: Liked the chemistry, but generalizations are often inaccurate
Summary: 3 Stars
I have to state my qualifications or lack there of for writing this review.
I have never taken a class in psychology, but I've read a lot on the subject, and
I've always been very careful to see if what a book is saying really applies to
my observations about people. From that standpoint I found the book at times very
insightful, while at other times I found it way off the mark. I have also taken enough
chemistry courses to have studied the structures of the chemicals the book discusses in
surprising detail. I enjoyed the chemistry in the book immensely, as well as discussions
of the chemical reactions in the brain, and also comments about chemical reactions
between brains (p. 87 has a great discussion of how male pheremones aid women's moods -
I hope this is true!). Now often when I interact with a woman and I try to see where
she is coming from, I think about chemicals like oxytocin and estrogen reacting in her
brain, and from p. 35 I might also wonder what part of her cycle she is in, which
again is explained well as far as the chemistry goes.
Because of the chemistry in the book, my favorite chapter, by far, is Chapter 5,
"The Mommy Brain." It has many interesting details about why women bond to their
children for chemical reasons. Also, for the careful reader who is curious about the
role of genetics on people's behaviors, esp. generationally, on p. 110 (and p. 20)
there is a discussion of how the nurturing "trait" in women can be passed from
generation to generation not through genes, but rather "epigenetically," which is
the new scientific term to explain how traits are passed on in ways other than through
genes (though they haven't officially stated that Lamarck actually wasn't all wrong!).
Now I will detail problems I had with the book's main points about biological
affects on behaviors.
The author makes what I would call "facile" generalizations based on her patients
and scientific studies (and has received criticism for not not using references
correctly), and I observed that almost every time there is a generalization,
I could almost instantaneously think of people who disprove the generalization as
"fact." For example, while it's obvious that men can be very aggressive, I know
women who are very prone to creating conflict. And when a generalization is
proven false, where does that leave the scientific "proof" that the brain and
the chemical(s) reactions in the brain are the causes of people's behaviors?
Furthermore, she bases many generalizations on her patients. If seeking to understand
the whole picture, why not do what Maslow did, study healthy people who don't need
therapy?
The book has a lot of material about topics like female bonding, but the
discussions are incomplete. Certainly females do seem to bond relatively easily,
but I have observed repeatedly that the bonding is often very temporary, it doesn't
lead to a genuine relationship. In discussing subjects such as intuition the author
clearly assumes that women are some kind of perfect mirror, that there are no
distortions in their perceptions, etc. In my experience this is simply not true.
My biggest problem with mainstream science today on the subject that could be
termed "psychology/consciousness" vis-a-vis those who believe we have souls
(engage in metaphysics), is that the official position of science is that there is
no consciousness, there is nothing, no one, inside (I think it's called the "ghost
in the machine"), and therefore that everything can be explained in terms of biology,
the brain, chemical reactions, genes, etc.
The author realizes the above, and yet fails to incorporate it in the book. There
is a fine discussion on pp. 6-7 where she makes it clear that biology (brain structure,
genes, chemicals, etc.) is only a partial explantion for people's behaviors. She writes,
"We can alter that reality...to change the effects of sex hormones on brain structure."
Yet these insightful comments are quickly forgotten, at least by me, because I remember
no further discussions about the ability of a person to change their behavoirs through
self-control and self-determination. On p. 53 she mentions that a mutation in a gene
called CREB-1 (sounds like crabby!) can cause depression in females. I think it would
have been helpful to give examples of people who have simply changed their behaviors
(including overcoming genetic predispositions). And yet I ask (again), does that thus
"prove" that their brain chemistry changed? Also, on p. 30 she makes a very telling
comment about the way scientists who are involved in psychology tend to look at people:
"we all still cave people inside," and reiterates the point a number of other times.
I take exception to this, not just myself, but I know many people who are way beyond
cave mentality, and I assume they also don't go to therapists!
Finally, I have no "brain envy" after reading "The Female Brain!"
Book Review: Move over, Natalie!
Summary: 5 Stars
A few years ago, New York Times science writer Natalie Angier produced "Woman: An Intimate Geography". The book was intended to explain many facets of a woman's body, and was a good comprehensive account, sorely needed. However, except for some discussion of hormonal influences, the book tended to skim over the brain's role. Louann Brizendine takes up that slack with enthusiasm and deep experience. As founder of a clinic dealing with women's health and behaviour issues, she's adept at explaining complex issues clearly. She relates her own studies and that of many researchers [seventy pages of "References" impart that!], nearly all of it of recent vintage. As such, this is the most up-to-date and comprehensive study of how the female brain develops that is available today.
The author reminds us that all human brains start out female. Until the Y chromosome's genes begin transforming the embryo by a cascade of hormonal signals, all the brain cells are XX, the default. Then males and females are sent down the separate tracks of sex development. As much distinction as we see between males and females, the hidden differences in the brain are easily as significant, if not more so. Brizendine explains the triggers launching the conditions found in the female brain, showing how different ratios of neurotransmitters between males and females assist in guiding them along their separate paths.
From the growing embryo, the author moves on to the child's years and through adolescence, adulthood and the grandmother years. At the outset, it's clear that a woman's biological signals are strong and persistent, even if sometimes inconsistent. There are strong evolutionary roots to why women's "moods" are as they are and some of these are manifest in other animals, a point Angier dismissed scornfully. A woman's level of empathy with others is far higher than a man's. She develops a sense of reconciliation to prevent or avoid danger to herself and her offspring. Preparation for this outlook begins early. Females bond with other females at a young age, reflecting their tendency for negotiation and conciliation. Little girls group in the sandbox or schoolyard, while boys are more willing to act alone. In groups, boys will contest for leadership spots, while girls tend to act concertedly. A "leadership" role, if taken up in a girl's clique, may rotate among its members. This may result from "talking out" an issue among the girls. With females uttering nearly three times the number of words per day than men do, talking out a situation comes more naturally even to the young.
Once the devastating chemical storms of adolescence quiet down, entering adulthood doesn't mean hormonal fluctuations level off. Instead, the estrus cycle brings a wave of chemical flows that "marinate the brain" with new varieties. During adolescence, a spurt of new cells is generated in the brain. Specific centres, such as that for speech, enlarge and have greater influence on behaviour. Love enters the picture and issues of sex and commitment become prominent. It is in these sections of the book that Brizendine's clinical experience is best brought forth. Running a clinic in San Francisco on "Women's and Teen Girls' Mood and Hormone Clinic" brings her in frequent contact with the results of the female brain's chemical machinations. As she depicts the circumstances of a client's condition, Brizendine is able to take the reader along on imaginary trips into the female brain to explain which chemicals are performing which tasks. Levels of dopamine, estrogen, testosterone and cortisol are being adjusted by the hypothalamus and amygdala in reaction to various prompts. It's a busy place in there, with little "down time" for the working chemists.
One form of apparent reduced capacity is due to the onset of depression. Studies of depression in women go back many years, but only recently have the neurochemical aspects been discovered. Although there are many causes for depression, menopause is a consistently fundamental one. Brizendine, after a lengthy examination of the issue, concludes that estrogen therapy, initiated as soon as menopause - which "technically lasts for only twenty-four hours" - is applied promptly. Delay renders the therapy useless, perhaps even dangerous. Beyond the general text, the author provides an Epilogue and three Appendixes to address further the issues of hormone therapy, depression and sexual orientation. The package Brizendine has put together is expressive and informative. There are many areas where she concedes "we don't know why" which will surely be attended to by the research this book will spur. While this book may someday be outdated, it's an excellent summation of what we know now - and which a good many should learn about. Read this book to find out why. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]
Book Review: She is claiming urban myths as fact. Very unprofessional and misleading.
Summary: 1 Stars
What she got wrong is a lot. Here is just a glimpse: http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2006/09/24/sex_on_the_brain/
I recommend the entire article, as well as doing more research. Here is a snippet:
``Most studies reported either that men talked more than women, either overall or in some circumstances, or that there was no difference between the genders in amount of talk." The research since that review, including counts from my own research, follows the same pattern.
I haven't been able to find any scientific studies that reliably count the entire daily word usage of a reasonable sample of men and women. But based on the research I've read and conducted, I'm willing to make a bet about what such a study would show. Whatever the average female vs. male difference turns out to be, it will be small compared to the variation among women and among men; and there will also be big differences, for any given individual, from one social setting to another.
Unfortunately, this is just one of several cases in recent books on sex and neuroscience where striking numbers turn out to be without apparent empirical support. On page 36 of ``The Female Brain," Brizendine writes that ``Girls speak faster on average-250 words per minute versus 125 for typical males." In support of this assertion, her endnotes cite Bruce P. Ryan, ``Speaking rate, conversational speech acts, interruption, and linguistic complexity of 20 pre-school stuttering and non-stuttering children and their mothers," Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics, 14(1), pp. 25-51 (2000). Alas, in Ryan's paper, you won't find the 250 vs. 125 numbers, and in fact, he gives no data at all that breaks down speaking rates by sex.
The truth is out there, however, in many studies over the years that do give figures for speaking rates of females and males of various ages. The most recent data comes from a paper presented at a conference this month, in which Jiahong Yuan, Chris Cieri, and I looked at various measures of speaking rate in thousands of English and Chinese telephone conversations. We found that in both languages, the males spoke about 2 percent faster, on average, than the females. This effect was small compared to the variation among female or male speakers, and it was also small relative to the effect of situational factors. For example, people talking with family or friends spoke about 10 percent faster than people talking with strangers.
These numbers might be unrepresentative or otherwise mistaken, but we've documented the procedures we used and the data we analyzed. And we used conversations that have been published as digital audio, along with time-aligned transcripts and demographic data for the speakers, so others can check our work if they want to.
This ability to check or replicate research is central to scientific progress. It doesn't stop people from disagreeing about facts and theories, but it helps organize the arguments and keep them on track.
The authors of self-help works, as a group, don't seem to have any particular standards of accuracy. Journalists, meanwhile, generally take them at their word in reviews and interviews, and publishers are happy as long as the books sell well.
It's a shame to see this approach to the facts spreading into the growing genre of books about the neuroscience of sex differences, where the facts can have real consequences.
Book Review: Poor attempt of persuasion
Summary: 2 Stars
This hardcover book is a classic example of a woman with credentials that is retelling the same jargon we heard regarding females from the age of adolescence. It seems as though this writer is taking her personal experiences and preferences and intuitions and exploiting them as general facts of the female psyche. I have said this once and I will say this again. No one can validate nor prove a generalization of an entire species and expect someone like me to agree with what they say.
From the dawn of evolution, before Darwinism and Freudian thinkers existed, there have been two types of genders in all species. They may have been different physically. But, in my experience with my opposite sex, ALL OF THE THINGS that Louann Brizendine claims makes the female gender so uniquely different from males is exactly the hogus-bogus that misled my beginning interpretations of women. During that misleading, I experienced so much abuse and cruelty from women that I began to wonder who actually had the "penis".
Because, according to authors like Brizendine, the Y chromosome and testosterone are the biggest factors biogenically that distiniguish the amounnts of aggression and desires for sexuality. Well, IF THAT'S THE CASE, then explain to me why the overall statistics show that meanwhile the national ratio of spousal abuse of women has decreased, the percentage of battered males has remained steady and increased. What could POSSIBLY be driving these NORMAL females to be so violent towards their mates?
Who made you the goddess of neuroscience? How can you generalize all female brain development and social agenda regarding caregiving desires and nurturing? Maybe, YOUR mama embedded those qualities in your head and told you that that was what made you feminine. The term "feminine" has a mass variety of definitions from generation to generation and should not be subjected to such lackadaisical statements like yours just because you buried your face in a dozen textbooks and received a paper from your graduate school for it.
I AM a college student and currently finishing my Master's Degree in Strategic Leadership. Although I am not a scientist of the biological mind such as yours, I feel like I know enough to argue about the material that I don't even practice with on a daily basis. So, for readers who are looking for a way to indulge in their understanding of the female psyche, please don't pick up this book. It's just another woman rambling about how different men are to women. It's the same stuff you hear in a family setting or a group of friends. Except, this is one person with some credentials doing it with some collegiate terminology.
Book Review: Still XX vs. XY, and still cheating
Summary: 1 Stars
It took me a bit of pigheadedness, patience and mental flexibility to read through "The female brain" by Louann Brizendine, but I made it.
I really appreciated the author dismissing some vetero-feminist assumptions such as "male-female differences are limited to bodily shape and reproductive functions" and "a woman can replace a man in any and all activity" (allegedly first stated by Eve Doublex, President of the Sperm Donor Association).
That's definitely a step forward.
Still I couldn't find in "The female brain" any mention of the obvious fact that within a male foetus' brain the testosterone excess destroys the neural centres in charge of connecting profound a-priori convictions to the very notion of 'truth'; as a results in order to accept a new theory a male thus handicapped needs plenty of supporting scientific evidence, whereas a female would just know it is true without further ado, provided that she agrees with it.
WHAT YOU WILL LEARN FROM THIS BOOK:
- There are only three hormones to rule human sexual behaviour: testosterone, estrogen, progesterone. The other 6 dozens or so are most likely just a testosterone-induced delusion of the male brain.
- Girls are gentle, nice, peaceful and bright; boys are rude, vicious, territorial and pretty stupid. Not their fault, nor their parents', a mere matter of hormones.
- There is no such thing as free will, nor any other form of software running within our brains: all is hardwired, even though the wiring can be somewhat altered (mostly by hormones).
- Testosterone depletes and deletes, estrogen enhances and creates.
- Women have deep and sweet feelings, men don't. Because their neural circuits in charge of feelings have been burnt off by testosterone before they were born.
WHAT YOU WON'T LEARN FROM THIS BOOK:
- Why the heck the author got married, and to a MAN.
- Why she didn't treat her newborn son before testosterone could achieve its most nefarious effects.
- Why there are so few she-philosophers and nearly no she-inventor in the history of humankind.
- Why the average female needs an average male to change the fuses.
- How to make the best of our mutual differences in order to enjoy them rather than allowing them to make us utterly miserable.
OK, that's kidding enough.
I've got the disturbing feeling that the author does her best to expand the male-female gap to an insurmountable chasm, to assert an overall female superiority and to covertly suggest males would be profitably replaced by in-vitro cultures of testicle tissue producing XX spermatozoa only. Nothing really new, I can recall a few science-fiction books from the '50s that agreed admirably with her positions.
If I had read this book when I was 25 I would now be old, sad and alone rather than sharing my last years with a nice bright woman I'm still deeply in love with.
P.S.: I tried to persuade my wife to read "The female brain" for I wanted a second opinion from someone I trust and respect, but nothing doing. She said life is already irritating enough as it is.