Gender Mosaic: Beyond the Myth of the Male and Female Brain

by Daphna Joel; Luba Vikhanski

Publisher:

Little, Brown Spark

, 2019

With profound implications for our most foundational assumptions about gender, Gender Mosaic explains why there is no such thing as a male or female brain.

For generations, we've been taught that women and men differ in profound and important ways. Women are more sensitive and emotional, whereas men are more aggressive and sexual, because this or that region in the brains of women is smaller or larger than in men, or because they have more or less of this or that hormone. This story seems to provide us with a neat biological explanation for much of what we encounter in day-to-day life. But is it true?

According to neuroscientist Daphna Joel, it's not. And in Gender Mosaic, she sets forth a bold and compelling argument that debunks the notion of female and male brains. Drawing on the latest scientific evidence, including the groundbreaking results of her own studies, Dr. Joel explains that every human brain is a unique mixture -- or mosaic -- of "male" and "female" features, and that these mosaics don't map neatly into two categories.

With urgent practical implications for the way we understand ourselves and the world around us, Gender Mosaic is a fascinating look at the science of gender, sex and the brain, and at how freeing ourselves from the gender binary can help us all reach our full human potential.

Praise for Gender Mosaic

"Brilliantly accessible. Gender Mosaic takes you on a fascinating scientific journey that will transform how you think about sex, gender, and the brain."
—Cordelia Fine, author of Testosterone Rex

"The book I've been waiting for! Enlightening, funny, and never dogmatic, Joel plumbs the science and beyond, offering great insights into how moving beyond the stale story of the gender binary could improve medicine, educational achievement, careers, personal relationships, and more."
—Rebecca Jordan-Young, author of Brain Storm

"A power-packed manifesto that will change the way you think about sex, gender, and the brain. Daphna Joel's Gender Mosaic offers a fierce conceptual challenge to attempts to carve a clear, stable, predictive picture of brain sex -- and envisions what our science, and our world, might look like if we let go of tired gender stereotypes."
—Sarah Richardson, author of Sex Itself

Product Details

• Title: Gender Mosaic: Beyond the Myth of the Male and Female Brain
• Authors: Daphna Joel, Luba Vikhanski
• Publisher: Little, Brown Spark
• Print Publication Date: 2019
• Logos Release Date: 2023
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Ebook
• ISBNs: 9780316534628, 9780316534611, 0316534617, 0316534625
• Resource ID: LLS:9780316534628
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2024-03-22T22:59:49Z

About the Authors

Daphna Joel, PhD, is a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Tel Aviv University. She has combined her expertise as a neuroscientist with her interest in gender studies to revolutionize the field of sex, brain and gender. In her research, Dr. Joel uses a wide range of analytical methods to analyze diverse datasets, from large collections of brain scans to information obtained with self-report questionnaires.

Luba Vikhanski graduated from New York University's Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program and works as a science writer at the Weizmann Institute of Science. She has written three books, most recently, Immunity: How Elie Metchnikoff Changed the Course of Modern Medicine.