Post by Tamrin on Apr 29, 2012 15:51:17 GMT 10
Delusions of Gender:
The real science behind sex differences
by Cordelia Fine, Allen & Unwin, October 2010, ISBN 9781848312012
The real science behind sex differences
by Cordelia Fine, Allen & Unwin, October 2010, ISBN 9781848312012
A passionately argued and much-needed corrective to the belief that men's and women's brains are intrinsically different.
Description
Sex discrimination is supposedly a distant memory. Yet popular books, magazines and even scientific articles defend inequalities by citing immutable biological differences between the male and female brain. Why are there so few women in science and engineering, so few men in the laundry room? Well, they say, it's our brains.
Drawing on the latest research in developmental psychology, neuroscience, and social psychology, Delusions of Gender rebuts these claims, showing how old myths, dressed up in new scientific finery, help perpetuate the status quo.
Cordelia Fine reveals the mind's remarkable plasticity, shows the substantial influence of culture on identity, and, ultimately, exposes just how much of what we consider 'hardwired' is actually malleable. This startling, original and witty book shows the surprising extent to which boys and girls, men and women are made, not born.
'Consistently well-written and meticulously researched...Fine's touching vignettes...rewardingly illuminate the workings of the mind with the studied casualness of the gifted novelist.' Alain de Botton, Sunday Times on Fine's A Mind of Its Own
Awards
Shortlisted, 2011 Victorian Premier's Literary Awards Nettie Palmer Prize for Non-Fiction
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Cordelia Fine is a Senior Research Associate at the Centre for Values, Ethics and Agency at Macquarie University, and an Honorary Fellow at the Department of Psychological Science, University of Melbourne.
Description
Sex discrimination is supposedly a distant memory. Yet popular books, magazines and even scientific articles defend inequalities by citing immutable biological differences between the male and female brain. Why are there so few women in science and engineering, so few men in the laundry room? Well, they say, it's our brains.
Drawing on the latest research in developmental psychology, neuroscience, and social psychology, Delusions of Gender rebuts these claims, showing how old myths, dressed up in new scientific finery, help perpetuate the status quo.
Cordelia Fine reveals the mind's remarkable plasticity, shows the substantial influence of culture on identity, and, ultimately, exposes just how much of what we consider 'hardwired' is actually malleable. This startling, original and witty book shows the surprising extent to which boys and girls, men and women are made, not born.
'Consistently well-written and meticulously researched...Fine's touching vignettes...rewardingly illuminate the workings of the mind with the studied casualness of the gifted novelist.' Alain de Botton, Sunday Times on Fine's A Mind of Its Own
Awards
Shortlisted, 2011 Victorian Premier's Literary Awards Nettie Palmer Prize for Non-Fiction
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cordelia Fine is a Senior Research Associate at the Centre for Values, Ethics and Agency at Macquarie University, and an Honorary Fellow at the Department of Psychological Science, University of Melbourne.
