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The Female Brain

3.78 of 5 stars 3.78 · rating details · 4,763 ratings · 952 reviews

Every brain begins as a female brain. It only becomes male eight weeks after conception, when excess testosterone shrinks the communications center, reduces the hearing cortex and makes the part of the brain that processes sex twice as large. Louann Brizendine, M.D. is a pioneering neuropsychiatrist who brings together the latest findings to show how the unique structure o...more

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Published (first published 2006)

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Sep 28, 2007 David Rim rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: noone

The takeaway from this book is that the average woman is a hyper-sensitive control freak ruled by hormones such as estrogen, progesterone, oxytocin, testosterone in the same way that some people feel they're controlled by the movement of the stars. These hormones in turn are determined by a combination of genetics and rearing but developed over time as a reaction to evolutionary necessities. All of which enforce behavior which you know of as a set of common stereotypes. There's not much scientif...more The takeaway from this book is that the average woman is a hyper-sensitive control freak ruled by hormones such as estrogen, progesterone, oxytocin, testosterone in the same way that some people feel they're controlled by the movement of the stars. These hormones in turn are determined by a combination of genetics and rearing but developed over time as a reaction to evolutionary necessities. All of which enforce behavior which you know of as a set of common stereotypes. There's not much scientific data to back up these claims but that doesn't stop Luann Brizendine, MD.

This writing itself is awful -- an overly breezy example of the worst of pop science. It reads like a long magazine article written in a chatty style which among other things is directed towards an exclusively female audience. Worse, the science is poor, relying mostly on case study from private practice and completely irrelevant animal studies giving 0 background on studies. Just reporting findings is fine in these kind of books, but they should at least make a coherent argument. Example: Brizendine describes a rat experiment wherein researchers rubbed a local anesthetic on a mother rat's mammaries. Brizendine claims that the lack of sensation resulted in lack of bonding between pup and mother, and these poor rat pups as a consequence suffered from a host of problems later in the experiment. Therefore, a woman should breast-feed. Wow -- I think I need a little more information before I can accept that line of reasoning.

On the other hand, I do think that brain chemistry is extremely important in determining our moods and behavior. I can buy the basic premise. The problem is that I'm not interested in why so many women exhibit stereotypical behavior. I'm more interested in the how. How does estrogen protect brain cells? How does oxytocin create feelings of relaxation? What is an emotion, and how do you know you're having one anyways? Is sadness for a woman the same thing as sadness for me? Really, I'm not interested in why women like rich, good looking, attentive guys (compared to what? poor, ugly, insensitve guys?). I'm more interested in how they know and how they evaluate what they see and feel and how that differs from the way I see myself. None of these questions even get asked. It's a crying shame.
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21 likes · like · see review

Feb 14, 2009 Jennie rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: human-behavior, i-want-my-money-back

This book pissed me off more than anything I've read in a long time. In fact, I think the last thing I hated this much was Sharp Teeth. And this piece of drivel was way worse.

This crazy bitch makes Dr. Laura look like a raging feminist. I understand that this woman is a doctor and I get that she thinks she was doing the world a favor by explaining why women are the way they are. HOWEVER, she takes a very stereotypical view of women and does not make any allowances for women whose behavior is di...more

37 likes · like · see review

Jan 10, 2013 Jason Koivu rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, psychology-philosophy

The way some men talk about women I'd assumed they'd think The Female Brain was a work of fiction, "'Cuzzin' they ain't got none! Heeyuck, heeyuck!" It's too bad most of them are illiterate, because those guys are the ones that need to read this the most.

In The Female Brain, neuropsychiatrist Dr. Louann Brizendine uses clinical research and the experience of counseling patients to cover every stage of a woman's emotional development and brain processes. The use of science to dissect human behavi...more

14 likes · like · see review

Aug 24, 2011 Veronica added it · review of another edition

I stopped reading this book on page 68.

It's amazing I made it that far. Part of me thinks I should finish the book because I should know what is inside. People not only like to come to me for gender advice, but also test my boundaries on "gender roles." A friend loaned me this book, I believe as a way to see what my expert opinion of it would be. I have no idea how she feels about it.

It frightens me to think this was a NY Times Best Seller. Oh, the masses who read this and loved it!

You know what...more

19 likes · like · see review

Aug 30, 2007 Katie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Everyone

Shelves: recommended

Okay, this is serious. We ALL need to read this, and we need to get our significant others to read it, too. This author is a neuropsychiatrist and she analyzes how we (women) work (in easy to understand language) and why we do the things we do with regard to our moods, our biology and our evolutionary inclinations. It is infinitely interesting and lends an amazing insight into how we as women function on a daily basis. She also does a bit of the same for the male gender and it is really very eye...more

7 likes · like · see review

Apr 28, 2008 Audrey Babkirk rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: everyone

Recommended to Audrey by: Aunt Barb

I'm extremely wary of "science" on the cognitive differences between men and women, because I feel like it's often used as an argument for women's inferiority. (For instance, a recent Washington Post op-ed used that fact that women's brains are smaller to suggest that women were "just a little bit dim.") So I was ready to be disgusted by this book -– but instead I find myself recommending it to women I know and considering it for my next book club pick. It's a straightforward, engaging read that...more

6 likes · like · see review

Dec 07, 2008 Heather rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book was pretty interesting though too chatty in style for me - a common fault of 'mass market' science books. It talks about the hormone and other neurochemical differences between women and men, nothing in it was too earth shattering and I did still have a nagging voice in the back of my head complaining that this was essentialist/reductive/oversimplified...but the actual mechanics of neural processes being different were interesting, and the chapter discussing the "mommy brain" was both...more

3 likes · like · see review

Apr 17, 2009 Khalid rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: already-read

The Female Brain is a science book that discusses the physical and psychological aspects of the female brain. It will teach you how the female brain works, and why does it work the way it does.

I have thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and learned a lot by reading it. It contains enough science that you feel convinced yet not bored, and enough stories that entertain you along the way.

To be honest, I didn't like it at first when she started talking about females as super human beings, and how we...more

5 likes · like · see review

Jun 05, 2007 Nicole rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction

I thought this book was an interesting exploration of the specific structures of the female brain. While I do think that it was a worthwhile read, I wish the author had delved a bit deeper than she did. That said, it is for a trade audience so it is understandable that some of the more technical elements might have been left out. Overall it's a good book to challenge the way we think about sex differences and the whole nature vs. nurture argument.

2 likes · like · see review

Nov 13, 2009 Emily rated it 3 of 5 stars

If you could hear my brain as I read this book, it would seem to say, "Aye donnnnn't knooowww" or "I can see how that Couuuld be true," all with a skeptical head turn to the side. It's interesting, this book. It is. And I keep thinking about it. So that's good. It's just that, well, her science seems a little fuzzy. And a little generalized. So it's hard to really get behind her thesis.
I am, I admit, a little uncomfortable with the idea that gender roles are based entirely on the level of hormo...more

1 like · like · see review

Feb 02, 2009 Heather rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Anyone looking to dismiss females as irrational. Females who look to excuse their bad behavior.

Chauvinists around the world will thank Dr. Brizendine for her pop-science oversimplification excuse of a book that will add a modicum of misplaced credibility to the belief that women are powerless over their emotions an hormones.

"Don't tell me it's not your period, honey! Dr. Brizendine proved that you are powerless over the hormones in your brain! It's ok!" *pat,pat* "Why don't you take a Quaalude and zone out in front of an episode of Grey's?"

This book irritated me beyond belief. I think any...more

13 likes · like · see review

Mar 31, 2010 Esmeralda Rupp-Spangle rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: biology, social-studies

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
"This crazy bitch makes Dr. Laura look like a raging feminist"
Another Goodreads reviewer"

My problems with this book were plentiful.
It was, in general, pretty poorly written, but often scientists don't make the all time best writers. I find I can often forgive this shortcoming if their science is sound (and interesting), but sadly Louanne Brizendine seems to rely on her own personal experience from cases she has observed firsthand and vague, undocumented, anecdotal "evidence" almost exclusively....more
"This crazy bitch makes Dr. Laura look like a raging feminist"
Another Goodreads reviewer"

My problems with this book were plentiful.
It was, in general, pretty poorly written, but often scientists don't make the all time best writers. I find I can often forgive this shortcoming if their science is sound (and interesting), but sadly Louanne Brizendine seems to rely on her own personal experience from cases she has observed firsthand and vague, undocumented, anecdotal "evidence" almost exclusively.
Rather than giving us the real cognitive science studies, she turns again and again to a few of her patients (which represents a statistically insignificant population) to extract subjective observations which go from becoming theories, to broad sweeping generalizations, to "facts" as you advance through the chapters.
She uses repetitive, inaccurate, and irritatingly childish analogies that are poorly chosen- to illustrate unsound hypotheses.

As I first started into this book I was very put off by what I felt were extremely sexist overtones- not against women, but against men. Again and again she uses descriptions of testosterone "destroying" part of the male brain and the "default female" fetus growing unabated, etc etc etc. She seems to do this several times, but I finally began to understand *why* she was glorifying the emotional adaptability, facial processing, and conflict resolution skills of women. It was because it *was* sexist, not just against men, but against women as well.

Louanne Brizendine successfully made me end up feeling as though I had no real purpose beyond being a passive, estrogen filled receptacle, fated to mate, care for young, keep the cave clean, calm aggressive males, and give up the pursuits that actually interest me in favor of the biological inevitability of being a mommy.

Perhaps I will breed and perhaps I will not, but a part of me wants to refuse to make babies solely to thwart this obnoxious assumption. The author barely touches at all on women who can not or do not have children, and only mentions them to note that their brains are not as efficient. Wow.
She also maintains that women are not worse at math or science, they just prefer to be in more social environments- and though I'm taking it out of context a little, that nearly made me holler with incredulity and rage. Stereotype much Mrs. B?

She also devotes a whole PAGE AND A HALF to sexual orientation (are you kidding me???), but for some reason felt the need to devote an ENTIRE chapter to the benefits of hormone replacement therapy after menopause, and goes on for so long about them I began to wonder if the drug companies that produce these medicines were paying her salary while she wrote this book.

There are good, interesting, legitimate, useful facts in this book- and I did find some wonderfully informative tidbits. Things about why I have trouble relating my emotional states to the opposite sex, and what chemicals cause what behaviors. It helped me understand why I feel compelled to do certain things and why I so often have trouble understanding my partners seeming obliviousness to my emotional states.

I had *fun* for the most part reading this book, and though I had to take almost everything with a grain of salt, I did feel as though I absorbed a great number of very helpful biological, neurological, neurochemical, and evolutionary facts that I would have been even happier to learn from a book that didn't make me feel like a sperm depository.
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5 likes · like · see review

Dec 02, 2008 Monica rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

My mom recommended it, I think, because she was overjoyed to discover a scientific rationale for her new-found post-menopausal selfishness (which I think is a good thing for her...to be selfish after decades of tending to others).

I felt a bit "meh" about the book...while the science and anthropological studies were mildly interesting, if a little cursory, the anecdotal "tales from the couch" were really annoying, in the way that, say, "The Tyra Banks Show" and women's magazines are annoying.

2 likes · like · see review

Dec 20, 2007 Lori Carpenter rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: anyone

Wow! Where to begin! Julie recommended this book to me. I'd suggest all women read it; especially those going through changes in life and these can be the obvious, like menopause, to your girls going through puberty. It will definitely keep me more patient and "grounded" as Ellie goes through puberty to remember not to take things personally and to remember what she is going through.

I did find it interesting/comical that she listed each stage of life separately. Which is obvious, but I kept thi...more

4 likes · like · see review

Apr 07, 2008 Kate rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: everyone - women and men

Recommended to Kate by: Shea DiDonna

This book is amazing. I normally do not read books like this, but it is so worth it. Dr Brizendine describes the various stages of the female brain, from fetus through menopause and all the changes in between. I now find myself looking at Louisa and thinking how her brain is begging for reassurance that she's doing 'it' right. Then looking at myself, current owner of the 'mommy brain'. Amazing. I really appreciated how the author presented the material to explain actions of individuals while aff...more

3 likes · like · see review

Nov 10, 2009 Christine Rose rated it 3 of 5 stars

Interesting book about how intense emotions and such are a part of how the chemical make-up of the female brain, but I would've liked to have seen more about how to counteract said chemicals/hormones with herbs or nutrition. For example, I've found that a deficiency of Dopamine and Serotonin, which can cause depression and anxiety, is counteracted by steering clear of caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol, which act to further inhibit those chemicals.

Bottom line: This book does a great job of explaini...more

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Mar 11, 2009 Joan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Very informative & lots of aha moments!!

1 like · like · see review

Feb 05, 2009 Bookmarks Magazine added it · review of another edition

Louann Brizendine, a neuropsychiatrist at the University of California, San Francisco, explores groundbreaking issues in brain science with mixed results. Critics debate the author's presentation and research; some extol her many and varied sources and the book's accessibility, while others take her to task for relying too heavily on anecdotal evidence and "dumbing down" the text (Robin Marantz Henig cites the author's repeated use of "cutesy language" and slang). Despite the critical ambivalenc

...more

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Jan 19, 2009 Leslie rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I found the information interesting and could generally agree with the points made (solely based on my qualifications as a female) but felt that the book lacked a scientific feel. The appendix contains about 40 pages of sources and citations, but the actual reading of the text feels a little light on pure data and more reliant on anecdotal information. I'm not really sure why that is, but that's how I felt throughout the reading of the book.

However, any insight we can gain is appreciated. We kno...more

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Jan 17, 2009 Eric rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

On what I found out about the female brain: Dammit! They're smarter than us. I wish I had this book a couple years ago. But seriously, intelligence is relevant and this book is not about that. Instead, it's about the different ways in which both brains operate.

In no way is this book fluff, which is what someone coming across the title, and in light of its mainstream success, might think. What this book is, is an attempt to understand the circuitry of the female brain; which, hasn't been thourou...more

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Mar 17, 2013 Sarah Brock rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book read like a magazine article, as Robin Marantz Henig pointed out in her New York Times review of the less than compelling book. It is short and easy to read, but is not presented in a professional, much less scientific manner. Brizendine delivers her "facts" via anecdotes and does not cite a single statistic or specific research study. Her sources and notes listed in the back of the book carry on for 30+ pages. To be sure, Dr. Brizendine did her research. However, it was appallingly cl...more This book read like a magazine article, as Robin Marantz Henig pointed out in her New York Times review of the less than compelling book. It is short and easy to read, but is not presented in a professional, much less scientific manner. Brizendine delivers her "facts" via anecdotes and does not cite a single statistic or specific research study. Her sources and notes listed in the back of the book carry on for 30+ pages. To be sure, Dr. Brizendine did her research. However, it was appallingly clear that she expected her audience to not read critically. Rather, she would have them believe every word she wrote verbatim.

Reading this book from a feminist perspective, I was outraged more often than not. Brizendine extrapolates singular anecdotes to biological norms, which, in my mind, is highly inappropriate. She ignores completely the effect that social conditioning has on behavior and chalks it all up to hormones. She builds off of the gender-binary stereotypes and reinforces an almost Victorian view of marriage relationships and sex. She does nothing to affirm a woman's place in the modern 21st century. If anything, she tries to explain that we are biologically built to be like our "Stone Age foremothers" (a phrase she repeats ad nausuem) and therefore are actually incapable of being as successful as men outside the home, unless we take testosterone supplements, which she repeatedly hails as the solution to a wide variety of problems.

Social issues aside, the quality of writing is poor. She cannot write a solid or compelling concluding paragraph to save her life. Brizendine latches on to a few phrases and repeats them over and over. This book could have been better if it had been co-written with someone who is a writer by profession. For as many people as she thanked at the beginning of the book for helping her through the writing process, it seems that none of them had the heart to ask for better writing.

I would not recommend this book to you, unless you enjoy the homemaker's magazine approach- skimming the science and analysis. (less)

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Mar 15, 2013 Miranda rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Books of this type often lose its ground. In an attempt to fill itself out, it goes off topic and outlives its point. However, Louann Brizendine's The Female Brain is dense with information. I compulsively highlighted every page. It was all fascinating.

I have tried to insert Brizendine's finds in everyday conversation, but I was surprised to find friends weren't as enthralled as I was. What at first seemed like common sense (girl talk, PMS, motherhood) turned into something I re-discovered throu...more

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Feb 21, 2013 Chloe rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: library-loaned, struggle-to-read, nonfiction, blind-buy-loan

The train wreck started with the initial characterization of the hormones. Establishing the hormones with a particular gender and giving them “jobs” that fit with gender roles does not bode well for the hope to see an objective look at the female brain without sexist stereotypes or gender roles muddling the examination of evidence.

Then it got into the book. At the beginning, it casually implied that PMS is scientifically valid. I was disappointed in that since there are quite a few medical profe...more

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Dec 16, 2012 Gabi W rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Gabi Wallk

12/10/12

FMS Workshop

The Female Brain by Louann Brizendine

Imagine what it would be like to embark on an adventure and travel into a world of prefrontal cortexes and intricate structures. The Female Brain by Louann Brizendine is an enlightening assessment spiced with case stories. She reveals an eye-opening portrait in the hidden science of the female brain from fetal stage to mature adulthood. Brizendine uses her patients to depict the different stages of the female brain as we lea...more Gabi Wallk

12/10/12

FMS Workshop

The Female Brain by Louann Brizendine

Imagine what it would be like to embark on an adventure and travel into a world of prefrontal cortexes and intricate structures. The Female Brain by Louann Brizendine is an enlightening assessment spiced with case stories. She reveals an eye-opening portrait in the hidden science of the female brain from fetal stage to mature adulthood. Brizendine uses her patients to depict the different stages of the female brain as we learn about structures of the female brains communication center, emotional sensitivity, decision making, and intuition and how they differ from the male counterpart. Highlighted are the effects of hormones that come into play at different points in a woman's life such as estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone. The book is organized in chapters, and also includes a table of contents and several tables, graphics, and diagrams of the female brain. I found the book compelling and deeply-informative, covering mountains of scientific material in a very personal manner. Also, Brizendine is surely a credible expert on the topic because of her twenty years of study as a neuropsychiatrist and researcher. I think Brizendine did a spectacular job hiding that inner sisterhood spirit, yet there is still a hint of bias towards women. I thought the book was artfully written, although the first chapter was slightly tough due to the dense scientific material. I recommend The Female Brain to anyone who enjoys learning about integrated science and is fascinated by why people act the way they do. I think Brizendine masterfully synthesized hardcore science, real life stories, and emerging research to create a magnificent account of the biological foundations of human behavior.

Rating:

Like the hormone Oxytocin - a feel good brain chemical - the book is also powerful, informative, descriptive, insightful, and beautifully written.

Bibliography:

Brizendine, Louann. The Female Brain. New York: Morgan Road Books, 2006.
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Nov 14, 2012 Rosytown rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Nobody

There are two things that you MUST know before reading this book.
1 - The author received the 2006 Becky Award, which is given to 'people or organizations who have made outstanding contributions to linguistic misinformation'.
2 - There are a myriad of doctors and experts (male and female) who dispute the science in this book. One such 'fact', regarding the usage of words per day has been removed in current printings due to it's inaccuracy.

On the positive side of things, I found small pockets of th...more

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Apr 26, 2012 Rebekka K. Steg rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010, favourites, health, psychology, non-fiction, women

"Did you know that every brain begins as a female brain and that it only becomes male eight weeks after conception? This is when excess testosterone shrinks the communication centre, reduces the hearing cortex and makes the part of the brain that processes sex twice as large."
- from the back cover.
[Image]
The author of The Female Brain, Louann Brizendine has a degree in neurobiology from University of California, Berkeley and graduated from Yale's School of Medicine. Post-graduation she has work...more

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Jan 03, 2012 Rajesh rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012

First off, I'm not in the target audience intended by the author, as I understand this book is written for women. However, my approach to this book was to understand any scientific advances in the field of biology that finds interesting difference between the sexes. In this regard, I think the book fails. Firstly, it constantly talks about proximate rather than distal causes as in "estrogen triggers this circuit during this time that causes this". This perhaps is interesting to a clinician, but...more

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Oct 10, 2011 Emily rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The book does take a very general view on the topic, and there were a lot of things she mentioned in the book that I already knew, and there wasn't much that changed my outlook already of what I've already gathered and heard about the female brain. However, that is because I realized this book is more about offering biological, and strictly, chemical/hormone explanation for women's behavior. It is not as psychological as I expected it to be. Its more of a verification of general ideas we already...more

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Aug 08, 2011 Crosby rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Always nice to read a book that is based on more than just "common knowledge" or "all in your head" or "Venus and Mars" type explanations of the differences in male and female behaviors. Brizendine is a medical doctor who treats female patients and uses this knowledge to explain behavioral changes in a way that is more persuasive than usual. Whereas some would pass off the inability of couples to have children with a "because you are trying too hard" or "it's all in your head" type explanations,...more

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Jun 05, 2011 Sara rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I really enjoyed reading this book - it was a little window into all the chemicals I know are in my brain and what they are doing each month and it really helped me feel 'less crazy' - and the ladies out there will know what I mean. Apparently waking up depressed with absolutely no reason for being so is pretty normal during certain weeks/days and now I know exactly what's causing it (and guess what - it's not because I think I'm fat! It's the chemicals!)

She explains very clearly how the waves o...more

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About Louann Brizendine

Louann Brizendine, M.D. is a practicing clinician, best-selling author, public speaker and media commentator who specializes in the relationship dynamics that result from the neurobiology of male and female brains.

She completed her degree in Neurobiology at UC Berkeley, graduated from Yale School of Medicine and did her internship and residency at Harvard Medical School. She has also served on bot...more

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Quotes from The Female Brain

“Women have less direct relationship to anger...When a woman "bites" her tongue to avoid expressing anger, its not at all socialization. A lot of it is brain circuitry. Even if a woman wanted to express her anger right away, often her brain circuits would attempt to hijack this response, to reflect on it first out of fear and anticipation of retaliation. Also, the female brain has a tremendous aversion to conflict, which is set up by fear of angering the other person and losing the relationship. Instead of triggering a quick action response in the brain, as it does in males, anger in girls and women moves through the brain's gut feeling, conflict-pain anticipation, and verbal circuits.
Scientists speculate that though a woman is slower to act out of anger, once her faster verbal circuits get going, they can cause her to unleash a barrage of angry words that a man cant match.
Typical men speak fewer words and have less verbal fluency than women, so they may be handicapped in angry exchanges with women.
Often when I see a couple who are not communicating well, the problem I see is that the man's brain's circuits push him frequently and quickly to an angry, aggressive reaction, and the woman feels frightened and shuts down.” — 10 people liked it

“During times of physical separation, when touching and caressing is impossible, a deep, longing, almost a hunger, for the beloved can set in. We are used to thinking of this longing as only psychological, but it's actually physical. The brain is virtually in a drug-withdrawal state. During a separation, motivation for reunion can reach a fever pitch in the brain. Activities such as caressing, kissing, gazing, hugging, and orgasm can replenish the chemical bond of love and trust in the brain. The oxytocin-dopamine rush once again suppresses anxiety and skepticism and reinforces the love circuits in the brain. From an experiment we also know that oxytocin is naturally released in the brain after a twenty-second hug from a partner- sealing the bond between huggers and triggering the brain's trust circuits.” — 8 people liked it

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