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5 Minutes for Books: Pink Brain, Blue Brain

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This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

We have been posting multiple book giveaways each week on 5 Minutes for Books with more to come. Check out our giveaway for the Vaccine Answer Book and all of our current giveaways.

I wasn’t sure what I would think about Pink Brain, Blue Brain because I wasn’t sure what the author’s take was going to be towards traditional male/female roles. I wasn’t sure if she was going to blast one sex over the other, which is what I so frequently see now (and find so heartily discouraging!). I was pleasantly eased into this book by her assurances that she was not going to come down hard on either gender. Rather, she says that it’s time to set aside petty squabbling over who is better than whom and focus on how we can close the gender gap by noting both the strengths and weakness of males and females and by better equipping each side to fulfill their purpose and role in life.

What does she mean by that? Well, Eliot presents plenty of scientific arguments and evidence to show the differences that exist between males and females. This is, pardon the pun, a very brainy book. It is not for the faint of heart! She goes into much detail about the differences and uses charts and graphs to back herself up. (It hurt my brain a bit but it was fascinating to read about!) What she wants to do is to encourage parents, educators and society to help equip females from a young age to not be so afraid of math so that they can succeed in this area when they are older. She wants to teach young men how to be honorable, kind and sympathetic towards those weaker than themselves so that when they grow up they will be compassionate. Basically, she wants to meet each gender at its weakest point and teach it how to improve. This, she argues, will actually close the gap which exists between men and women and will make society more equal.

This really is a unique approach and a new argument to be making. I found it utterly fascinating and worth a good thought or two. I don’t necessarily agree with all of her arguments or her conclusions but I did find her presentation very interesting and if you are also one who has contemplated how to address the Battle of the Sexes for yourself, those you know, or perhaps your own children, you might be interested in reading Pink Brain, Blue Brain. It’s fact-based with solid evidence and, like I said, a completely fascinating read. Pull out your thinking cap when you sit down with this book and go to town!

Want to win a copy? If you are a U.S. Resident, leave a comment below for a chance to win! Go on – stretch that brain a bit! We’ll announce the winner in next Monday’s book column.

The winners of Pearl Girls are:
#11 Thena
#26 Brenda Rupp
#31 Michelle (@comcast)
#40 Pixie13

Carrie comes by her book obsession honestly, having descended from a long line of bibliophiles. She blogs about books regularly at Reading to Know and is a staff reviewer at 5 Minutes for Books.

Reader Interactions


62 Comments

  5. I would love to read this book!

    Anything that helps me understand the kids better is a godsend!

  10. There IS a lot that we don’t know about the selection processes which reinforced different kinds of behaviors for different gender roles. Survival-of-the-fittest really only worked up to the point where human beings gained the dubious advantage of being able to adapt to changes in environments within weeks or months, instead of over hundreds of generations… So the headache now becomes how to recognize the underlying baggage we’re stuck with, the stuff that IS genetically “built-in” underneath, instead of being part of the “NEW” adaptability ‘kit’.

    So yeah, I’d like to see some “current thinking” on this subject!! Thanks for the chance!

  14. So much research is being done, and we are learning so much. I’d love to read this book.

    bgcchs(at)yahoo(dot)com

  23. I think it is important to note the diffenences and the similarities. The problems this world has needs every single brain to help solve them. It is ridicilous to eleminate 1/2 of the population because of gender male or female.

  29. Well, I’m already teaching my boys to be kind and honourable, and my girl as well, and encouraging them all to like math, even though I hate it myself. (Spotted on a tshirt: “I’m an English major–you do the math!”) But I’m still interested in the book. Why not?

  32. This kind of stuff really interests me, especially since I am a fourth grade math teacher and see the boy/girl difference in math and in reading. It really does exist!

  40. I’d love to read this book, and also give it to my sister – she’s got a boy and girl and she can’t seem to reason with either at the moment. *lol*

  41. My Sister-in-law just found out they are having a girl! After having 2 boys, this sounds like a great book to help them understand girls a little better. :0)

  44. My little “pink brain” would love to read this book! 🙂

    roseinthemorning [at] gmail [dot] com

  50. I’d hope that she’d address the issues of exposure to (american) media as well, which reinforces stereotypes. thanks for the giveaway!

  52. This looks like a really interesting read. I hope that I get the chance to read it! Thanks so much for the chance to win!

  56. In my opinion, there is a marked difference in the way the female and male brain works. Lay out 3 toys…a doll, a truck, and a puzzle for each child. In most cases the girl picks the doll and the boy picks the truck. Oops, 1 year old children I forgot to say. Boy am I going to catch it on this one.
    So I would love to read this book.

  57. I would love to be entered please! I think this sounds very intriguing – such a great thing to study, really, and in an open-minded sort of way (without the social stigmas associated with the sexes).

  60. Some of it is brain difference (one area of specialty about which I write) and some of it is social expectation. We need to work on the latter as much as on the former!