Customer Reviews
VERY generalised theories - I prefer John Gray books. - By: Sammy, 26 Aug 2008 
I started reading this book after having read "Men are from Mars..." by John Gray. First few chapters appealed to me, following the first 3 chapters the more I read the more generalised it became, obviously I know these types of books are aimed for the majority, however this book became increasingly vague towards the end & I lost interest. Worth a look but nowhere near as good as John Gray books.
well.... - By: Claire, 18 May 2008 
Well, it looks to be perpetuating stereotypes sure enough, just from the title.
I was prepared to give it a shot, though. I'm relatively uncritical, & I am perfectly prepared to admit that authors have probably done their research & know more about the subject than I do, otherwise I wouldn't bother reading the book. And titles are sensationalist, & you shouldn't judge a book by its cover.
So I start reading, objectively & open-minded. I'm not looking to pick holesin anything it says.
However, I'm pulled up short by the quiz to determine whether you have a masculine or feminine brain.
Fair enough, I think. It has those nice a. b. c. choices likein women's magazines (always fun...) & then you add up your scores (so many for each a, so many for each b...) & see where you fall on the scale: the higher you score, the more feminine your brain. Sounds good.
Until I look at the scoring system & realize...the system is DIFFERENT depending on your gender. The quiz which they bill as "enlightening", presumably meaning that it will clearly show you that the women you give it to score higher than the men...well, of course it will, because the women score five points more for each a. answer than the men.
As a woman, I score 125.
If I were a man, with EXACTLY the same brain, I would score 90.
A 35 point gap, on a scale around 300 points long, is SIGNIFICANT. 35 points is bigger than the 30 point overlap they have between their cutoff points for masculine & feminine. A man & a woman could easily answer the questions exactly the same way, & their scores place the manin the masculine zone & the womenin the feminine (I say easily, because since a's score highest either way & both my scores are firmlyin the masculine zone, whatever gender I calculate as, you'd need to check more a's than me to hit the overlap zone, & doing that would increase the gap)
...so, what does it prove? That if you set up the systemin a way that means women will score differently from men, they will score differently?
Well, duh.
If the sort of methods you use to determine difference are biased, the results will reflect that. And if you publish that quiz & expect people to use it & find it "enlightening", I can only assume it's representative of the research methods you base the book on.
Somehow, that makes me lose my faithin the rest of what they have to say. If you are going to say men & women's brains are wired differently & they are fundamentally differentin x y & z ways, then you should have enough confidencein your hypothesis to judge them by the same yardstick.
Sham and Scam - By: R. Anderson, 25 Jan 2008 This book is similar to all of those infamous pyramid schemes--the authors make money off of other people's hard work, data gathering, & scientific studies. This would be bad enough if were not for the fact that the authors are also intellectually dishonest. The conclusions of the studies they cite do not support the premises of the authors. The Peases warp these studies' findings to fit their purpose & also ignore any facts that contradict their work.
For example, they discuss many studies on homosexuality, which they state all show that "people are born gay," when,in actuality, those studies' researchers stated that while some people have an innate disposition toward feminine behavior or attraction to their same sex, environment & an individual's development are as great, or even greater, factorsin determining whether someone chooses a gay lifestyle. Just as someone may be genetically prone to depression or anger, so are some people toward homosexuality. The authors of this book also state that no therapies have ever succeededin turning someone to a heterosexual lifestyle, when again,in fact, such therapies have a higher success rate than any current drug addiction therapy.
This is just one area where the Peases seemingly willfully ignore current scientific studies & evidencein order to sell their books, DVDs, seminars, video & audio programs. However, please do not just take my word for it & review the current available information.
Rather entertaining! - By: Chris, 03 Jan 2008 
Having read some of the negative reviews I was somewhat wary of the content, but I must say that it is at the very least very entertaining. As I am not a psychologist or brain scientist, or any other type of scientist for that matter, I can't asses whether the authors claims & theories are true or false, neither can I comment on any of the apparent proof of them being wrongin the negative feedback. However, I did find many of the explanations to be plausible & not all that far fetched. Explanations about the theories are quite simplistic without much detailed reference to any researched, which is a downside to the book.
Both my wife & I got great laughs out of this book, & there where countless comments like: "That is so true!". Whether or not the theories are true or completely unproven didn't really matter to us, as it was still very good entertainment.
Why is it so difficult for some people to accept differences between the genders? - By: Mrs. Julie A. Blackwell, 22 Oct 2007 
I read this book about 5 years ago & it subtly changed the way I dealt with both men & other women. In making slight changes to the way I communicated & expected communication back I significantly improved both my professional & personal relationships.
Why is it that people will willingly accept some evolutionary factors (self preservation, fight or flight mechanisms etc), but as soon as it is suggested that evolution may have encouraged the development of different traitsin men & women it becomes a 'sensitive' issue. Clearly everyone is different & there is a lot more than simply evolution which makes us what we are. However, understanding that the genders will often communicate differently, & why, is a great step forwardin the 'equal but different' debate.
Yes, this book is written to appeal to the masses, & the use of metaphors & examples is sometimes sweeping. But the message is good & is got acrossin a way which is easy to understand & use.
