Published in 2019
448 pages
Gina Rippon is professor of cognitive neuroimaging at the Aston Brain Centre, Aston University, Birmingham. Rippon has also sat on the editorial board of the International Journal of Psychophysiology. Her book, Gendered Brain: the new neuroscience that shatters the myth of the female brain, maintains biology plays no core role in differentiating female brains from male brains. As a watershed in the history of science, Rippon considers her findings comparable to “the idea of the Earth circling around the sun”. Rippon’s research involves the application of brain imaging techniques, particularly electroencephalography,(EEG) and magnetoencephalography (MEG) using cognitive neuroscience paradigms to studies of normal and abnormal cognitive processes. This work has been applied to the study of Autistic Spectrum Disorders and to developmental dyslexia.
What is this book about?
For decades if not centuries, science has backed up society’s simple dictum that men and women are hardwired differently, that the world is divided by two different kinds of brains—male and female. Gina Rippon finally challenges this damaging myth by showing how the science community has engendered bias and stereotype by rewarding studies that show difference rather than sameness.
Drawing on cutting edge research in neuroscience and psychology, Rippon presents the latest evidence which she argues, finally proves that brains are like mosaics comprised of both male and female components, and that they remain plastic, adapting throughout the course of a person’s life.
Discernable gender identities, she asserts, are shaped by society where scientific misconceptions continue to be wielded and perpetuated to the detriment of our children, our own lives, and our culture.
