Delusions of Gender

How Our Minds, Society, and Neurosexism Create Difference

By: Cordelia Fine

Narrated by: Maria Brendel

It's the 21st century, and although we tried to rear unisex children - boys who play with dolls and girls who like trucks - we failed. Even though the glass ceiling is cracked, most women stay comfortably beneath it. And everywhere we hear about vitally important "hardwired" differences between male and female brains. The neuroscience that we read about in magazines, newspaper articles, books, and sometimes even scientific journals increasingly tells a tale of two brains, and the result is more often than not a validation of the status quo. Women, it seems, are just too intuitive for math; men too focused for housework.

Drawing on the latest research in neuroscience and psychology, Cordelia Fine debunks the myth of hardwired differences between men’s and women's brains, unraveling the evidence behind such claims as men's brains aren't wired for empathy and women's brains aren't made to fix cars. She then goes one step further, offering a very different explanation of the dissimilarities between men's and women's behavior. Instead of a "male brain" and a "female brain", Fine gives us a glimpse of plastic, mutable minds that are continuously influenced by cultural assumptions about gender.

Passionately argued and unfailingly astute, Delusions of Gender provides us with a much-needed corrective to the belief that men's and women's brains are intrinsically different - a belief that, as Fine shows with insight and humor, all too often works to the detriment of ourselves and our society.

©2010 Cordelia Fine (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"[Fine's] sharp tongue is tempered with humor.... Read this book and see how complex and fascinating the whole issue is." ( The New York Times)

Great listen!

The book is interesting and full of well thought out research and arguments. The performance definitely adds to the story, it's probably one of the best I've heard. Would definitely recommend this book to friends interested in the topic!

Strongly backed up by research

The author was very effective in presenting copious research studies surrounding gender while keeping the overall narritive continuously interesting and engaging. Excellent book on the subject.

Though the author made a lot of good points...

Though the author made a lot of good points the book was filled with conjecture. She seemed to be more concerned with poking holes in other people's theories than establishing her own. It was was also heavy handed on the feminist propaganda. It does remind the reader to question everything rather than just absorb information so that's good.

Necessary reading

We like to congratulate ourselves often for living in an age of scientific objectivity, unclouded by gender stereotypes of past generations who used science to prove why men are superior to women. Fine, study by study, demonstrates why our self-congratulations is unfounded.

Valuable discussion of Gender but way too long

Message and ideas could have been delivered in a much more concise manner. While I was convinced message was aligned with my personal outlook. I don't think data is rigorous enough to convince a die hard neurosexist and way too repetitive for me... having said this I did find the ideas themselves worthwhile.