Pink Brain, Blue Brain: How Small Differences Grow into Troublesome Gaps - And What We Can Do About It

Description

Turning conventional thinking about gender differences on its head, Lise Eliot issues a call to close the troubling gaps between boys and girls and help all children reach their fullest potential. Drawing on years of exhaustive research and her own work in the field of neuroplasticity, Eliot argues that infant brains are so malleable that small differences at birth become amplified over time as parents, teachers, and the culture at large unwittingly reinforce gender stereotypes. Indicating points of intervention where social pressures can be minimised, she offers concrete solutions for helping everyone grow into wellrounded individuals.

Lise Eliot is a mother of three and the Associate Professor of Neuroscience at The Chicago Medical School of Rosalind Franklin University. She is the author of What's Going On In There? How the Brain and Mind Develop in the First Five Years of Life.

"A refreshingly reasonable and reassuring look at recent alarming studies about sex differences in determining the behavior of children ... Eliot's work demonstrates a remarkable clarity of purpose." * Publishers Weekly * "This is an important book and highly recommended for parents, teachers, and anyone who works with children." * Library Journal * "Read her masterful book and you'll never view the sex-differences debate the same way again." * Newsweek * "This meticulous book should challenge everyone's assumption about the role of sex and gender." Sue Blackmore * BBC Focus * "Gender is strongly affected by environment and stereotyping after all, [Eliot] maintains in this absorbing book." * The Bookseller * "A passionate plea for all of us to look beyond the confines of the pink/blue tyranny of childhood... To use the latest brain science to maximise outcomes for both genders, to the greater glorification of both." * Culture (supplement to the Sunday Times) * "Read her masterful book and you'll never view the sex-differences debate the same way again." * Newsweek * "A refreshingly reasonable and reassuring look at recent alarming studies about sex differences in determining the behavior of children ... Eliot's work demonstrates a remarkable clarity of purpose." * Publishers Weekly * "This is an important book and highly recommended for parents, teachers, and anyone who works with children." * Library Journal * "[a] sharp, information-packed, and worderfully readable book" * Mother Jones * 10 out of 10 review: "it is difficult to see how Pink Brain, Blue Brain can become anything other than the definitive text on sex differences." * The Times Higher Educational Supplement * "She tells her story authoritatively but modestly, with frequent references to her experience as a mother, and illuminates a very accessible pathway through the science." Marek Kohn * The Independent * "She tells her story authoritatively but modestly, with frequent references to her experience as a mother, and illuminates a very accessible pathway through the science." Marek Kohn * The Independent * 10 out of 10 review: "it is difficult to see how Pink Brain, Blue Brain can become anything other than the definitive text on sex differences." * The Times Higher Educational Supplement *