Cordelia Fine is a Senior Research Associate at the Centre for Values, Ethics and Agency at Macquarie University, and an Honorary Fellow at the Department of Psychological Science, University of Melbourne.
We are all in [Fine's] debt. She has the expertise to check the
research references cited by academic as well as popular books on
the subject, and she has the clarity and wit to impart her findings
to the lay reader. She exposes shockingly lightweight research that
is taken seriously and nuanced research that is misreported.
*Guardian*
The hard data is illuminating, and engaging, but Fine manages a
light touch throughout. This is a truly startling book.
*Independent on Sunday*
Two books came out this year (2010) which, in the long-term, could
change how we view gender for ever. ... Cordelia Fine's 'Delusions
of Gender: The Real Science Behind Sex Differences' (Icon Books)
finally debunked the myth that men and women's minds are
significantly different .... Both books were favourably reviewed
and hotly discussed. Over time their conclusions could have
far-reaching consequences as significant as 'The Female
Eunuch.'
*Viv Groskop, Guardian*
A fascinating subject. A bracing argument.
*Evening Standard*
'Delusions of Gender' ... carefully and with great precision
demolishes the nonsense that pervades the popular and technical
literature pretending to be scientific fact, exposing it as
truthiness which is nowhere close to truth. ... When I first heard
about this book it was clear, even before reading it, that this is
the book we've been waiting for. Now, having read it, I can assure
you that it is even better than I thought it could be. ... Buy it.
Get your friends, your colleagues, your family members to buy it,
or buy it for them. Get it to your local school board. Make it
required reading, not only in gender studies, but in freshman
sociology, biology, education and business courses. Get it on the
New York Times bestseller list. ... Our culture is saturated with
sloppy self-reinforcing non-thinking about gender. It will take a
monumental effort to get it off those tracks. 'Delusions of Gender'
is an excellent place to start.
*Professor Judy Roitman, Association for Women in Mathematics
Newsletter*
Fine is fun, droll yet deeply serious. Setting a cracking pace,
Delusions tackles the power of implicit association (those
unconscious associations we make about men and women) and of
negative stereotyping, plus the empathising/systematising theory
proposed by psychologist Simon Baron-Cohen, and the messy world of
brain scans and genetic research. Her conclusion: we are in thrall
to "neurosexism".
*New Scientist*
The result of Fine's irritation is a witty and meticulously
researched exposé of the sloppy studies that pass for scientific
evidence in so many of today's bestselling books on sex
differences... Can we stop talking about brains now? Those who
can't, and anyone else who would like to know what today's best
science reveals about gender differences - and similarities - could
not do better than read this book.
*Carol Tavris, TLS*
['Brain Storm' and 'Delusions of Gender' are] well-informed,
well-argued and (for science books, perhaps unusually) well-written
interventions in ... one of the most important debates in current
sexual politics.
*Trouble and Strife Journal*
If you believe that the tide of blue and pink that greets children
whenever they walk into a toy or children's clothes shop is just
about colours ... think again.
*Working Mums*
This is a book with such a large scope that it's near-impossible to
overestimate its importance. Much like 'The Spirit Level' did for
socio-economics, this book ropes together decades' worth of studies
on gender differences and casts a cool, calm eye (and an arched
brow) over them all... This book will cast a light on gender
assumptions you didn't know you had, and it's hilarious - with
chapter titles such as 'We Think, Therefore You Are' and 'Sex and
Premature Speculation,' Dr Fine is a brilliant tour guide - making
light, fun and engaging work of the research. By debunking the
rubbish, this book opens up possibilities for a (slightly) clearer
vision of the future. Not to be missed.
*Fat Quarter*
In 'Delusions of Gender' Cordelia Fine does a magnificent job
debunking the so-called science, and especially the brain science,
of gender. If you thought there were some inescapable facts about
women's minds - some hard wiring that explains poor science and
maths performance, or the ability to remember to buy the milk and
arrange the holidays - you can put these on the rubbish heap.
Instead, Fine shows that there are almost no areas of performance
that are not touched by cultural stereotypes. This scholarly book
will make you itch to press the delete button on so much nonsense,
while being pure fun to read.
*Emeritus Professor Uta Frith, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience,
University College London, Research Foundation Professor,
University of Aarhus*
'Cordelia Fine has a first-rate intellect and writing talent to
burn. In her new book, Delusions of Gender, she takes aim at the
idea that male brains and female brains are "wired differently",
leading men and women to act in a manner consistent with
decades-old gender stereotypes. Armed with penetrating insights, a
rapier wit, and a slew of carefully researched facts, Fine lowers
her visor, lifts her lance, and attacks this idea full-force.
Whether her adversaries can rally their forces and mount a
successful counter-attack remains to be seen. What's certain at
this point, however, is that in Delusions of Gender Cordelia Fine
has struck a terrific first blow against what she calls
"neurosexism".
*Professor William Ickes, author of 'Everyday Mind Reading:
Understanding What Other People Think and Feel.'*
Fine turns the popular science book formula on its head.
*USA Today*
The author, Cordelia Fine, who has a Ph.D. in cognitive
neuroscience from University College London, is an acerbic critic,
mincing no words when it comes to those she disagrees with. But her
sharp tongue is tempered with humor and linguistic playfulness, as
the title itself suggests.... It's too late to tell that to Dr.
Sax, a proponent of single-sex education, who cited the Connellan
study as evidence that 'girls are born prewired to be interested in
faces while boys are prewired to be more interested in moving
objects.' But it's not too late to read this book and see how
complex and fascinating the whole issue is.
*New York Times*
So both sexes should rejoice at Cordelia Fine's new book, Delusions
of Gender, a vitriolic attack on the sexism masquerading as
psychology that is enjoying a renaissance.
*Rosamund Irwin, London Evening Standard*
Impeccably researched and bitingly funny.
*Rosamund Irwin, London Evening Standard*
Fine's tone is witty but the citations are detailed and the
bibliography extensive...This book is an entertaining weapon in
that fight (for education and social justice) and will make a nice
"thwok" sound bouncing off the heads of sexists.
*Sarah Ensor, Socialist review*
Fine's conclusions provide a timely warning against taking too
seriously the deluge of books and articles that would have us
believe that men are biologically advantaged when it comes to
mathematics, racing, driving or map reading - and that women are
naturally more intuitive and nurturing, so better at childcare and
multitasking.
*Claire Jones, Guardian*
In Delusions of Gender the psychologist Cordelia Fine exposes the
bad science, the ridiculous arguments and the persistent biases
that blind us to the ways we ourselves enforce the gender
stereotypes we think we are trying to overcome.
*Terri Apter, Guardian*
Fine eviscerates both the neuroscientists who claim to have found
the answers and the popularisers who take their findings and run
with them.
*Katherine Bouton, Deputy Editor of New York Times Magazine.*
Timely and provocative, her argument is also excellent at debunking
oversimplified theories, for instance, that biology is destiny.
*Metro*
A well-stocked armoury that includes extensive research, sharp whit
and a probing intelligence, and which refuses to be satisfied with
the delusional myth-making that often passes for popular
science.
*Metro*
Fine offers persuasive proof that many of the claims we commonly
swallow about male and female brains are based on very bad science
indeed. Her entire book ... is worth a read, and perhaps should be
taught in high school and college science classes. Maybe if young
women were exposed to the truth about their brains, they'd no
longer feel like they had to chuck their gender overboard in order
to pursue their dreams.
*Anna North, Jezebel*
With Delusions of Gender, we welcome a brilliant feminist critic of
the neurosciences ... In a book that sparkles with wit, which is
easy to read but underpinned by substantial scholarship and a
formidable 100-page bibliography, she attacks the ready
generalisations on sexual differences made by neuroscientists and
their media exegetes ... every page of Fine's brilliant, spiky book
reminds us that science is part of culture and that the struggle
against sexism in the neurosciences and the struggle against sexism
in society are intimately linked. Read her, enjoy and learn.
*Hilary Rose, THES*
An excellent introduction to the scientific method ... mind-opening
... prepare to be a relative expert on the subject.
*British Neuroscience Association Bulletin*
A pinnacle piece of feminist literature, which I thoroughly
recommend and could quote all day.
*Fran Hall, Huffington Post*
[a] brilliant debunking of "neuro-sexism" ... a powerful case that
who we are is much more closely attuned to the culture that
surrounds us, than to the biology of our brains.
*Mslexia*
For anyone interested in the brain, research methods, applied
science, gender, parenting, the workplace, human nature or general
sass, this book is an absolute must read.
*Cyndi Chen, Huffington Post*
Popular science writing at its best ... beautifully and accessibly
written ... It is a cracking good read, by turns witty, passionate
and learned.
*National Childbirth Trust Journal*
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