The Female Brain

The Female Brain

by Louann Brizendine

Bantam, HK$181

Countless hours of entertainment can be had from Louann Brizendine's examination of what goes through a woman's mind, from conception until death. As a neuropsychiatrist at the University of California in San Francisco, the temptation is to give Brizendine the benefit of the doubt in her sweeping generalisations about why women are different from men. But science writers such as Robin Marantz Henig of The New York Times found the lack of evidence to support controversial claims a trifle frustrating. It's one thing to say girls' brains are hard-wired 'to ease and prevent conflict', whereas boys tend to shoot first. It's another to convince the reader that it's true. But there's a lot to take away from The Female Brain, for women and men. Did you know that most divorces after the age of 50 are initiated by women? Apparently menopause turns off the oxytocin hormone that the female brain is fed as a reward for being attentive to the needs of their children. Second-rate husbands don't stand a chance. 'What have you done with my wife?' is apparently a common reaction when the female brain really takes charge.