Few people realize how much science can tell us about the differences between men and women. Yves Christen, provided the first comprehensive overview of research in this area when this classic book was first published in the1990s. He goes beyond simplistic "biology is destiny" arguments and constructs a convincing case for linking social and biological approaches in order to understand complex differences in behavior.
Biologists agree that the sexes differ in brain and body structure. Christen links these differences in cerebral anatomy to differences in behavior and intellect. Taking his readers on a journey through psychology, endocrinology, demography, and many other fields, Christen shows that the biological and the social are not antagonistic. To the contrary, social factors tend to exaggerate the biological rather than neutralize it.
This controversial work, Sex Differences, takes on traditional feminism for its refusal to confront the evidence on biologically determined sex differences. Christen argues for a feminism that sees traits common to women in a positive light, in the tradition of such early feminists as Clemence Royer and Margaret Sanger, as well as more contemporary feminist sociobiologists like Sarah Hrdy. We deny sex differences only at the price of scientific truth and our own self-respect.
Industry Reviews
-A logical treatise that purports to answer the question of whether or not women and men are essentially different... Christen celebrates the resulting differences between the sexes and maintains that these differences become validating for both men and women. Appropriate for community college students and up, as well as informed general readers.-
--B. Ayers-Nachamkin, Choice
-This is surely one of the most important works in women's studies in recent years, because it goes to the heart of the subject: the biological sources of the differences in behavior and the way they have guided the relation between the sexes. Written in a clear, direct style, Sex Differences imparts a dignity to the human condition that, for reasons explained by Christen, have chronically eluded traditional feminist ideology.-
--Edward O. Wilson, Museum of Zoology, Harvard University "A logical treatise that purports to answer the question of whether or not women and men are essentially different... Christen celebrates the resulting differences between the sexes and maintains that these differences become validating for both men and women. Appropriate for community college students and up, as well as informed general readers."
--B. Ayers-Nachamkin, Choice
"This is surely one of the most important works in women's studies in recent years, because it goes to the heart of the subject: the biological sources of the differences in behavior and the way they have guided the relation between the sexes. Written in a clear, direct style, Sex Differences imparts a dignity to the human condition that, for reasons explained by Christen, have chronically eluded traditional feminist ideology."
--Edward O. Wilson, Museum of Zoology, Harvard University "A logical treatise that purports to answer the question of whether or not women and men are essentially different... Christen celebrates the resulting differences between the sexes and maintains that these differences become validating for both men and women. Appropriate for community college students and up, as well as informed general readers."
--B. Ayers-Nachamkin, Choice
"This is surely one of the most important works in women's studies in recent years, because it goes to the heart of the subject: the biological sources of the differences in behavior and the way they have guided the relation between the sexes. Written in a clear, direct style, "Sex Differences "imparts a dignity to the human condition that, for reasons explained by Christen, have chronically eluded traditional feminist ideology."
--Edward O. Wilson, "Museum of Zoology, Harvard University"
