Because i'm not really sure how we are setting this paper up yet, i have been highlighted anything i find interesting in the introduction and first chapter. And there is a lot. I think i may have stumbled upon a type of hypothesis, though since i haven't read the whole book i can't be entirely sure. it's on page 3 where Brizendine states:
"If a woman's reality could change radically from week to week, the same would have to be true of the massive hormonal changes that occur throughout a woman's life. I wanted the chance to find out more about these possibilities...looking at women's brain states, and how neurochemistry and hormones affect their moods."
One thing i especially like about this book so far, is that Brizendine not only talks about the female brain, she compares it to the male brain. I think this is very important for our ed. psych class since we are looking at all students. i really liked the section in chapter one which talks about boys being physically aggressive and girls being more verbally and emotionally aggressive; it's important to note that both sexes can be aggressive at times, just in different ways. And i loved that she referred to female aggression as "pink aggression" (p. 29)!!
i like the language of this book. I was worried when i started it that i wasn't going to be able to make heads or tails of all of the scientific processes that go on in neural development or puberty, but Brizendine does a fantastic job of relating everything in very easy to understand metaphors. My favorite so far is:
"Male brains are larger by about 9 percent, even after correcting for body size. In the nineteenth century, scientists took this to mean that women had less mental capacity than men. Women and men, however, have the same number of brain cells. The cells are just packed more densely in women - cinched coresetlike into a smaller skull" (p. 1).
okay, i guess that's all for now. i'm excited to read more :D
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2 comments:
I totally underlined that corset remark too! I am loving this book. I especially love how accessible it is, unlike so many books about the brain. She uses language that is understandable, but doesn't just "dumb it down." She throws in enough technical language to make it legitimate, but not so much that it becomes impossible to understand.
I also like that she compares the female brain to the male brain and gives so many every-day examples. She does a good job of comparing without saying "and this is why the female brain is better," even though sometimes it does seem implied.
This book could be so helpful to people. I already have a list going in my head of people I want to read this book, and my dad is one of them. I really do think that men could enjoy this book as well.
I also appricaite that the language in this book is so readable. It's so helpful in understanding where women are coming from...I also enjoyed the "aggression in pink." As well as the recognition that both sexes can be aggressive--I wonder how, as a teacher, you handle female aggression if it is so much more subtle that male aggression? I hope she continues to address it through the rest of a woman's stages.
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