The Female Brain

Nonfiction | Reference/Text Book | Adult | Published in 2006

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Key Terms-Introduction

Chapters 1-2

Chapters 3-5

Chapters 6-7

Epilogue-Appendix 3

Key Figures

Themes

Index of Terms

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Background

Scientific Context: Bio-Essentialism

Biological determinism, or bio-essentialism, is the view that human traits, including gender expression and attraction, are predetermined by biological factors, as opposed to being created by socialization. Medicine has a long tradition of examining men and women through a bio-essentialist lens. Followers of biological determinism assert that primarily genetics, hormones, and neurology determine sex-specific behaviors. Medical science has also traditionally normalized the male experience, either ignoring the female experience or marking it as other. As such, biological determinism has been frequently used to provide scientific justification for sex stereotypes. For instance, the idea that female brains are smaller than male brains has been used to assert male superiority (Green, Sheila. “Biological Determinism and Essentialism.” Companion to Feminist Studies, 2020). Most modern social scientists and medical doctors do not ascribe to biological determinism, arguing that, while biology plays a role in gendered behavior, such behaviors are primarily a result of socialization.

Brizendine takes a bio-essentialist stance in The Female Brain, which is one of the reasons the text has been highly criticized. Brizendine ascribes to biological factors numerous stereotypical behaviors that are most commonly seen as sexist generalizations. She also overemphasizes the role of brain structures and hormones—for instance, citing the absence of prenatal testosterone for female fetuses as the cause of early feminine-coded behavior, such as collaborative play or apparent empathy. Later, Brizendine links hormonal fluctuations of the menstrual cycle to behaviors and emotional states, argues that the instinct to procreate drives romantic and sexual behaviors, explains mothering through hormonal and neurological alterations correlated with the physiology of pregnancy and birth, and attributes increased independence in menopausal women to lower levels of sex hormones. Although Brizendine mentions social factors at times, she clearly presents the flawed and discredited argument that biology is the primary cause of gendered behavior, which would occur without social influence.

Critical Context: Delusions of Gender

In 2010, Cordelia Fine, a philosopher and psychologist, wrote Delusions of Gender in part as a response to The Female Brain; in her work, she directly targets Brizendine’s book multiple times. Fine takes the opposing stance that gendered behavior is primarily the result of socialization. She cites multiple studies which demonstrate that stereotypical behaviors and perceptions emerge as a result of an individual’s culture. For example, Fine addresses Brizendine’s example of a young girl treating a firetruck like a doll even after the child’s mother implemented gender neutral parenting methods. Fine argues that gender neutral parenting is nearly impossible—studies have found that gender-based treatment begins before birth and continues throughout a person’s life. Fine also counters Brizendine’s claims that women exhibit inherent empathy opposed to men through studies showing that empathy capabilities are influenced by social perception. For instance, if male study participants are primed with information supporting males as strong empathizers, they will perform better on empathy tests. A similar phenomenon occurs with female subjects and math or spatial reasoning tests.

Along with criticizing Brizendine’s biological determinist views, Fine condemns Brizendine’s unethical use of source material. While researching for Delusions of Gender, Fine examined each of the sources Brizendine cites in The Female Brain. In some instances, Brizendine manipulated reference materials. For instance, in an anecdote about effective female mental health professionals mirroring their patients, Brizendine implies that male mental health professionals did not exhibit mirroring behaviors. However, Fine discovered that male professionals were not included in the study. As such, the study cannot be used to make any claims on female superiority in areas of empathy. Fine also found that Brizendine blatantly lied: Fine reached out to one of the individuals listed in the references as having a discussion with Brizendine only to have the individual deny ever having spoken to Brizendine. Fine also draws attention to the bias in the publication industry, which prioritizes studies that find differences between male and female subjects, while refusing to publish those that find similarities because they are less interesting. This disparity strengthens the appearance that women and men are inherently different due to biology (Fine, Cordelia. Delusions of Gender. W.W. Norton, 2010).