Pink Brain, Blue Brain

A BOOK REVIEW OF

Pink Brain, Blue Brain: How Small Differences Grow Into Troublesome Gaps—And What We Can Do About It by Lise Eliot

In the Sept. 14, 2009 issue of Newsweek, under the title "Pink Brain, Blue Brain: Claims of sex differences fall apart," Sharon Begley reviews Pink Brain, Blue Brain: How Small Differences Grow Into Troublesome Gaps—And What We Can Do About It by Lise Eliot, a neuroscientist at the Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science.

Although there is no specific mention of the current buzz word "tomboy" — which is circling about the the BBC's coverage of the of sex-orientation testing case of South African sprinter Caster Semanya — Begley's review explains how Eliot can make the broad claim that there is "little solid evidence of sex differences in children's brains."

Perhaps — perhaps — it's true, if we use Eliot's argument, that tomboy behavior derives more from the expectations of parents than it does from the dispositions of the kid. But I'm thinking that if a girl-kid waxes tomboy, she hadda be a curious wannabe in the first place! Either way, lets beat the tom-toms — o-boy-o-boy-o-boy! — for all of the tomboys of this Earth ever: then, now, and hereafter!

KEY IDEAS IN BEGLEY'S REVIEW:

• Marching through [her] claims like Sherman through Georgia, [Lise Eliot] explains that assertions of innate sex differences in the brain are either "blatantly false," "cherry-picked from single studies," or "extrapolated from rodent research" without being confirmed in people.

• Other baseless claims: that women are hard-wired to read faces and tone of voice, to defuse conflict, and to form deep friendships; and that "girls' brains are wired for communication and boys' for aggression." Eliot's inescapable conclusion: there is "little solid evidence of sex differences in children's brains."

• How we perceive children—sociable or remote, physically bold or reticent—shapes how we treat them and therefore what experiences we give them.

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To read Begley's entire review of Pink Brain, Blue Brain, click here: http://www.newsweek.com/id/214834.

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