Book of the Week: "The Female Brain"

I decided to do a weekly segment called "Book of the week". I'm usually reading two or three books at once, even with a seven month old crawling around and I wanted to share the one that I either finish this week or that has really made me think. So here goes....

"The Female Brain" by Louann Brizendine, MD is a fascinating read. I bought it soon after Rosalind was born because I wanted to better understand her and myself as a new mother. The author is the founder of the Women's and Teen Girls' Mood and Hormone clinic as well as having done years of research on the difference between women's and men's brains. The book comes complete with a sketch of a woman's brain and a chart showing the different stages of a woman's life, what her hormones and brain are going through.

Dr. Brizendine admits that some women are afraid of talking about the differences between men and women's brains because they consider it necessary that no differences between men and women are seen in order for there to be equality. But her point of view, and I have to say I agree, is that if we understand our differences it helps science and medicine better now how to treat our illnesses and needs as women. Dr. Brizendine makes it very clear that this book isn't to say that we as women are imprisoned into one way of being, but that understanding how we are made can help us either accept certain things about ourselves or help us know how to change things about ourselves. "If we acknowledge that our biology is influenced by other factors, including our sex hormones and their flux, we can prevent it from creating a fixed reality by which we are ruled."

It shocked me to learn that as recently as the 1990's very little research had been done in the differences of male and female brains. The author admits that there is still so much they don't know about how a woman's brain functions, and that more extensive research must be done. One area that there is ever changing opinion about is Hormone Replacement Therapy for menopausal women. Apparently until about mid twentieth century, most women weren't living long enough to go through a full blown menopause. Now science must run to catch up with our longevity and the now obvious need for studying a woman's physiology to help prevent diseases and disorders that seem to target women more frequently than men.

I won't go into all the scientific speak; which Dr. Brizendine doesn't dumb down but neither does she write it like a college textbook, but basically our brains and how they interact with our unique hormone cocktail is what makes us women. It's what makes us process information differently, what makes us fight with our significant others and family members differently than men, what makes us need to talk so much, why we have a tendency to gravitate toward the guys or girls that we can "fix up" or the classic brooding male, why we seem to work so hard to avoid conflict (whether by pleasing people or being passive aggressive) and so many other things that seem to make the stereotypical female.

I could finally see why I may remember things Dan said months ago that hurt me, specific things, and he may only remember the highlights. Why I am so affected by the facial expressions of those around me, when most men I know don't really notice. And why I may stress out about things Dan doesn't and that it affects me differently than him.

It was also fascinating to read about how Rosalind, as a girl, would develop differently than her male cousins; not better or less, but differently. For instance "Over the first three months of life, a baby girl's skills in eye contact and mutual facial gazing will increase by over 400%, whereas facial gazing skills in boys during this time will not increase at all." She goes on to explain that baby girls are born with a curiousity and need to connect through emotional expression. They will also learn to speak quicker than boys because their need to communicate is ingrained in how their brain has developed in the womb.

Dr. Brizendine goes through every single stage in our lives as women and how our brains change and grow. I wish I could list all the amazing things I learned, but I'll let you read for yourselves. And I'm gonna see if Dan will read it as well, with two females in the house, it may be good for him to know what he's got and gonna get!

If you are a woman, love a woman, have a young girl or teen in the house I strongly suggest reading this book. The link in this post will take you to Dr. Brizendine's site where you can order the book.

Next week's segment will be about Meghan McCain's memoir of her fathers' presidential campaign "Dirty, Sexy Politics" Surprised I'm reading a book by a Republican? Me too.

And please feel free to share books that have impacted you or you have enjoyed, I'd love to hear from my few but faithful readers.