Book Review: Why Gender Matters: What Parents and Teachers Need to Know about the Emerging Science of Sex Differences

by Leonard Sax

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This book was even better than Boys Adrift, by the same author. I thought the things he studied about gender differences were really fascinating. Basically, he spends the first half of the book talking about how genetically boys and girls are different. These differences effect the way they hear, see, feel, and perceive things. He gives a lot of research to back up his findings. The second half of the book he talks about what to do about these difference, and some of the consequences of ignoring them. Some of those were pretty scary. Be prepared to take a very up close look at the sexual trends of teenagers and the things to watch out for and warn against. Even though that chapter was a little bit uncomfortable to read, I thought it was really eye opening. Things have changed a lot for teenagers since I was in high school, and I think parents need to be aware of what the pressures and trends are, so they can talk with their kids about the best ways to avoid them.

Like every other parenting book I've ever read, I don't agree 100% with everything in this book, nor do I agree with all of his solutions to the problems. For example, he seems to think that gender segregated schools are a cure all, and for sure his research shows that they might be helping, but I'd be really interested for him to do a study on homeschooling and see how it compared. I don't think gender segregated schools are necessarily a bad idea, but I'd like to see him take other options and compare them side by side. The only ones he compares side by side in this book are public schools and gender segregated private schools.

However, I did think that this was worth reading and pondering over. I would recommend it to anyone who is a parent.