The Essential Difference

July 1, 2003
Should the title fail to express Baron-Cohen's certainty about gender differences, the Cambridge Univ. professor of psychology and psychiatry lays out his controversial thesis on page one:"The female brain is predominantly hard-wired for empathy. The male brain is predominantly hard-wired for understanding and building systems." Defending this bold view is a tough but engaging battle, one that's alleviated by Baron-Cohen's disclaimer that his conclusions refer to statistical majorities rather than"all men" and"all women," but exacerbated by his habit of simultaneously skirting and employing gender stereotypes. His copious evidence ranges from the anecdotal to the anthropological, and from the neurological to the case study (the author and his research team conducted many of these studies). Not all his support fully convinces: e.g., the music-classifying habits of novelist Nick Hornby's High Fidelity protagonist isn't confirmation of the male brain's predisposition to systems-building. After acknowledging cultural and social influences on gender differences, Baron-Cohen"surfs the brain" (and offers evidence from a number of studies, both human and animal) to establish a biological link. But if male rats navigate their way through mazes more easily than female rats, does that mean men are better at directions than women? His speculations on how binary brain types have evolved over the eons, which have the male brain co-opting traits like power and leadership, leaving the female brain with gossip and motherhood, may ruffle a few feathers. Perhaps the most refreshing section of this cerebral volume is devoted to what he calls"extreme" examples of the male brain--autism and its cousin, Asperger's syndrome. The author of previous autism books, including Mindblindness, Baron-Cohen offers curious lay readers a provocative discussion of male-female differences.

June 1, 2003
Trying to define the differences between how men and women think and behave is a daunting task too often typified by the Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus school of literary thought. Delving into the topic from a rigorously scientific perspective and presenting a simple but compelling vision of what defines the male vs. the female brain, Baron-Cohen (psychology & psychiatry, Cambridge Univ.) draws together a vast array of research in this highly readable and thought-provoking book. He describes the typical male brain as hard-wired for systematizing and the female brain as hard-wired for empathizing, hence the typically male preoccupation with statistical information, facts, and understanding how things work and the correspondingly female interest in social relations, emotional responses, and what makes people work. This is evidenced by the high proportion of men compared with women in the hard sciences (mathematics, physics) and the reverse in more care giving fields, such as nursing, child care, and psychology. Research in the areas of brain development, autism, Asperger's syndrome, and early childhood development, as well as observation of everyday experiences, are used to support the author's thesis. Baron-Cohen, who codirects the Cambridge Autism Research Centre, posits that autism, with its tendencies of low empathy toward others and extreme systematizing, is an extreme form of the male brain. Written in an engaging style, this book both fascinates and informs. Recommended for all public and academic libraries.-David Valencia, King Cty. Lib. Syst., WA

Copyright 2003 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from August 1, 2003
In this engaging collection of letters, Pipher (Reviving Ophelia; Another Country) writes about her 30 years as a psychotherapist and what she has learned about people. Far more than just career advice for young therapists, however, she offers insights that could be subtitled Life 101 for Laypeople. The correspondence, based on the seasons, reflects Pipher's outlook on life (it's hard), childhood (never idyllic), family relationships (vital), and healing (often best through play, music, and travel). As a therapist, she agonizes over clients she can't help and injects plain thinking into complex problems. Families are not dysfunctional, she insists; parents may be quirky or incompetent, but clients should hang on to family relationships. Pipher concludes that what is dysfunctional is our society, through the pressures of time, expectations, suburban lifestyles, and jobs. "We therapists are small potatoes," she writes, though readers will feel richer and more competent for having read the wisdom she shares. For all collections.-Linda Beck, Indian Valley P.L., Telford, PA

Copyright 2003 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.