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One of the first gender role books I read in college. This book is a bit dated (TW for a word we used to use for Trans individuals but no longer use) but overall a great analysis of gender and society. I keep hoping she will update it with more inclusive language.

Good stuff. The takeaway is that a lot of the studies don't know what they're measuring and that some people are very dishonest in the way they present data. Always read carefully and check the references.

I'm on Litsy to talk books and have fun like most folks, but I do speak up about things people post that make me uncomfortable or upset me. If you don't want me to speak up, let me know and let's mutually unfollow -- i'm not cool with hiding hurt so others can feel comfy.

In the meantime, here is Breakfast saying hello. We need to get back to reading about gender/sex differences now or it'll be bedtime. Still fascinating stuff! #BunniesofLitsy

Ha! A blow to the "Women are designed to be nurturing while men are not" hypothesis -- male rats when caged with baby rats become caretakers, doing exactly the same things as a mother rat would. Rats don't have paternal care in the wild, yet male rats are perfectly capable.

It''s a rat model, but as someone raised by an adoring, self-sacrificing, cooking-cleaning-ironing-gardening-handyman of a dad, I've no doubt it would be replicable in humans.

This story doesn't make sense without knowing I'm female bodied, so, there is that info.

Anyway, this book is remijnding me of when I was choosing my A levels after finishing my AS levels. I loved biology and wanted to continue: I had a B. My teacher told me I would do badly and should stick to English Lit.

A male classmate had a C, and same teacher advised him to keep going with biology and go to medical school ultimately.

If in an experiment assessing empathy you remind a female study participant of the stereotype that women have greater empathy, she displays greater empathy, and the opposite with men. But if you make it about earning money, men become just as good. Not sure how anyone squares that with the idea that men are fundamentally different (which would render their performance *always* inferior... (probably by ignoring the inconvenient data.)

I've been being bad at keeping Litsy updated. So hey, here's what I'm starting tonight (apropos of needing to read something from my backlog, and the topic coming up).

Cordelia Fine is a scientist, feminist, and a mom. Her book debunks studies that purport to be solid science, but ultimately just support gender stereotypes. She discusses how gender neutral parenting is nearly impossible in today‘s society. And how this, along with neuroplasticity, mean that brains cannot possibly be hard-wired by gender. (Neuroplasticity = brain‘s ability to change.)

Many more details in my review at www.TheBibliophage.com

This one has been in my Audible library forEVER. Now that I‘ve started it, I‘m pretty fascinated. Her basic premise is that male and female brains are the same. It‘s societal and scientific bias that tell us otherwise. Might end up being my #feministclassic for #booked2018.

This middle part reminds me of Shylock in The Merchant of Venice "If you cut us will we not bleed?"; surely all genders need the basics, feel all emotions and are more the same than different? Why then are so many things claimed to be aligned with a particular gender? In my opinion it is ridiculous, human is human is human.

Claims that our brains are distinctly gendered has always seemed strange to me; this discussion on neuroplasticity, genetic expression and genetic code alteration demonstrates that so many things are not uniquely linked to a particular gender.

Spot on. Every time I try to have a think, I feel my ovaries shriveling 😑

Uh, where has this dude been for the past 10,000 years? Isn't it nice that dudes open car doors for us now instead of subjugating and violently-oh wait...

Despite her pink collar, Aggie is consistently mistaken for a male dog. Silly me, I thought this meant we reached equality😕

Started the Dutch translation of Cordelia Fine's Delusions of Gender today. This is a long overdue reread. In Dutch because I hope to use quotes in an upcoming public lecture on #gender #sexism and #feminism.