Description
This timely manifesto calls for a future free from gender-based assumptions about human potential. Written by the internationally renowned neuroscientist whose game-changing research debunks the myth of male and female brains.
For generations we’ve been taught that women and men differ in profound ways. Women are supposedly more sensitive and cooperative, whereas men are more aggressive and sexual because this or that region in the brains of women is larger or smaller than in the brains of men, or because they have more or less of this or that hormone.
This story seems to provide us with a neat biological explanation for much of what we encounter in day-to-day life. It’s even sometimes used to explain why, for example, most teachers are women and most engineers are men. But is it true?
Using the ground-breaking results from her own lab and from other recent studies, neuroscientist Daphna Joel shows that it is not. Instead, argues Joel, every brain – and every human being – is a mosaic, or mixture, of ‘female’ and ‘male’ characteristics.
With urgent practical implications for the world around us, this is a fascinating look at gender – how it works, its history and its future – and a sorely needed investigation into the false basis of our most fundamental beliefs.
Perfect for readers of Mary Beard’s Women & Power, Cordelia Fine’s Testosterone Rex, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s We Should All Be Feminists and Gina Rippon’s The Gendered Brain.
‘Brilliantly accessible. Gender Mosaic takes you on a fascinating scientific journey that will transform how you think about sex, gender and the brain.’ Cordelia Fine, author of Testosterone Rex
‘A power-packed manifesto that envisions what our world might look like if we let go of tired gender stereotypes.’ – Sarah Richardson, author of Sex Itself
‘Gender Mosaic is the book I’ve been waiting for! Enlightening, funny and never dogmatic, Joel plumbs the science, offering great insights into how moving beyond that stale story of the male and female brain could improve medicine, education, careers and relationships.’ – Rebecca Jordan-Young, author of Brain Storm
‘Joel and Vikhanski offer a fascinating glimpse of what’s possible when we liberate ourselves from the myth of pink and blue brains.’ – Lise Eliot PhD, Professor of Neuroscience, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science
‘This is a fantastic book. It is one of the best books about sex, gender, biology, and the brain – and the social implications of these issues – that I have ever read. The writing is clear, captivating, and concise – and the content is groundbreaking. This is a visionary and brave book.’ – Rebecca S. Bigler, Professor Emeritx of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin
