Delusions of Gender

Sex discrimination is supposedly a distant memory. Yet popular books, magazines and even scientific articles defend inequalities by citing immutable biological differences between the male and female brain. Why are there so few women in science and engineering, so few men in the laundry room? Well, they say, it's our brains.

Drawing on the latest research in developmental psychology, neuroscience, and social psychology, Delusions of Gender rebuts these claims, showing how old myths, dressed up in new scientific finery, help perpetuate the status quo.

Cordelia Fine reveals the mind's remarkable plasticity, shows the substantial influence of culture on identity, and, ultimately, exposes just how much of what we consider 'hardwired' is actually malleable. This startling, original and witty book shows the surprising extent to which boys and girls, men and women are made, not born.

'Timely and provocative - includes extensive research, sharp wit and a probing intelligence, and refuses to be satisfied with the delusional myth-making that often passes for popular science.' - Metro

'With a fabulous combination of wit, passion and scholarship, Fine demolishes many of the common theories offered to explain the construction of gender in contemporary society. This marvellous and important book will change the way readers view the gendered world' - Publishers Weekly (US)