The Female Brain by Louann Brizendine is an interesting book, but it suffers from a few, in my opinion, serious issues:
- It’s definitely a sexist book. Some sections clearly offend the male sensitivity (Yes, dear Louann, males can have some sensitivity!). The author describes male sexuality as a “simple hydraulic device” (maybe she simply met the wrong men). Can you imagine a man talking about women in a similar way?
- The author promotes a mechanistic and simplistic view of the human brain. She doesn’t really believe in neuroplasticity, preferring the old-school localizationist view. According to Louann, whatever your problem is, a few hormones and the usual antidepressant pills can fix it. IMHO, humans should not be viewed as a simple chemical device. I believe our brains are slightly more complex.
- The author’s use of evolution and human history to sustain her theories is very poor and superficial. She describes all sorts of silly theories about the evolution of the human and female brain, assuming that human life has always been the same as it is today. Sorry, Louann, our ancestors didn’t go shopping, they didn’t live in suburbia, nor did they become grandparents at 50 (the average life expectancy was 30-35 for 9% of human history).
- Despite the ridiculously long appendix with over 60 pages of bibliographical references, many of her statements are unsubstantiated, poorly documented, and lacking references. She offers her opinions as facts, with an excessively confident attitude. A softer approach and a more open-minded attitude would have made this book much more enjoyable.
Despite all those limitations, the book is a very rich source of information and ideas.