The Female Brain

The Female Brain - Louann Brizendine, M.D.
Neuropsychiatrist Louann Brizendine chooses “to emphasize scientific truth over political correctness even though scientific truths may not always be welcome” (162). Fear of discrimination should not make us pretend the sexes are the same. This does “a disservice to both men and women [and] ultimately hurts women” (161). To understand the female brain one must understand the changing cocktail of estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone. “What we’ve found is that the female brain is so deeply affected by hormones that their influence can be said to create a woman’s reality. They can shape a woman’s values and desires, and tell her, day to day, what’s important. Their presence is felt at every stage of life” (3). Brizendine writes so that females will not always be victims to their biology. She advocates a balance of nature and nurture and teaches that an awareness of biological instincts can help inform surviving the different stages of a female’s life: “Biological instincts are the keys to understanding how we are wired, and they are the keys to our success today. If you’re aware of the fact that a biological brain state is guiding your impulses, you can choose not to act or to act differently than you might feel compelled” (6). For example, falling in love is wrought with delight and danger: “The brain circuits that are activated when we are in love match those of the drug addict desperately craving the next fix… In fact, there’s some truth to the notion that people can become addicted to love” (66). I was floored by the following facts about the different ways men and women approach sex, emotions, and aggression. On sex: “Sexual thoughts float through a man’s brain every fifty-two seconds on average, and through a woman’s only once a day. Perhaps three to four times on her hottest days” (5). On sex and emotions: “Males have double the brain space and processing power devoted to sex as females. Just as women have an eight-lane superhighway for processing emotion while men have a small country road, men have O’Hare Airport as a hub for processing thoughts about sex whereas women have the airfield nearby that lands small and private planes” (91). On aggression: Males channel aggression through force, women through the communication, cliques, and influence. This is a fascinating book that shed light on so many things. It causes me to simultaneously revel in the differences between men and women and also to feel that God has played some mischievous trick on us.