The Female Brain (book)


The Female Brain is a book written by the American neuropsychiatrist Louann Brizendine in 2006. The main thesis of the book is that women's behavior is different from that of men due, in large measure, to hormonal differences. Brizendine says that the human female brain is affected by the following hormones: estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, oxytocin, neurotransmitters, and that there are differences in the architecture of the brain that regulates such hormones and neurotransmitters.

Structure

The Female Brain has seven chapters, each one of which is dedicated to a specific part of a woman's life such as puberty, motherhood, and menopause, or a specific dimension of a women's emotional life such as feelings, love and trust, and sex. The book also includes three appendices on hormone therapy, postpartum depression, and sexual orientation.

Reception

The book sold well but received mixed reviews, because a number of journalists, popular science writers, and scientists questioned the validity of some of the content.
Some of the authors that supported the content of the book include:
Some of the authors that criticized the content of the book include:
Brizendine was given the tongue-in-cheek 2006 Becky Award, which is given to "people or organizations who have made outstanding contributions to linguistic misinformation". The award cited errors in The Female Brain, including one sentence which contrasted the number of words used by men and women in one day. The numbers had been taken from a book by a self-help guru and were incorrect.

Response to criticisms

Brizendine later made some concessions to those who felt that this book overemphasised gender-based differences, saying: "Males and females are more alike than they are different. After all, we are the same species".

In other media

The Female Brain was loosely adapted as a romantic comedy movie of the same name in 2017. Brizendine served as the inspiration for the film's main character.