The Female Brain

The Female Brain, written by Louann Brizendine, MD, and published in 2006, is a self-help book that argues that gendered behavior is the result of physiological and neurological differences between female and male brains. Brizendine studied at Berkeley, Yale, and Harvard, amassed over 20 years of clinical experience as a neuropsychiatrist, and started the Women’s Mood and Hormone Clinic at the University of California, San Francisco. In The Female Brain, Brizendine describes being struck by gender biases in the medical community; she has devoted much of her career to helping women and girls better understand female neurology and resulting behaviors. The Female Brain focuses on the hormonal shifts that cause gendered behavior, much of which Brizendine attributes to the drive to procreate. Since its publication, Brizendine’s book has been highly criticized for ignoring marginalized individuals and for supporting damaging gender stereotypes and bio-essentialism, an idea now outmoded and considered offensive.

This study guide uses the Kindle version of The Female Brain (2006) published in 2017 by Harmony Books.

Content Warning: The source material discusses self-harm and suicidal thoughts. Additionally, the source material excludes, oversimplifies, and at times misgenders the experiences of transgender and nonbinary individuals.

Summary

The Female Brain is divided into seven chapters, each of which focuses on a phase of a female individual’s life, ranging from fetal development to postmenopause. To simplify her arguments and to make the text relatable, Brizendine often relies on case studies.

The first chapter is about childhood. Here, a girl named Leila is used to highlight the differences between male and female children. Leila is presented as communicative and cooperative, while her cousin, Joseph, is aggressive and disruptive. The book posits that gendered play behavior is a biological imperative rather than as a social construct, and attributes the divide between stereotypically feminine and masculine behavior to sex chromosomes and to prenatal testosterone exposure. Brizendine argues that Leila’s proclivity for eye contact, her ability to behave in public, and her seemingly compassionate behavior toward Brizendine, indicate that these stereotypically female social skills are innate. Another example is Jennifer, who feared her stepfather was cheating on her mother—behavior Brizendine construes as resulting from epigenetic imprinting. Female neurology, Brizendine posits, programs females to maintain social connections and to predict the behavior of males. While male children are depicted as exhibiting more misbehavior, Brizendine asserts girls also display unwanted behaviors, such as when Leila demands attention when ignored and attempts to control her parents.

The second chapter focuses on adolescence. Brizendine argues that the biological purpose of a female teenager “is to become sexually desirable” (57); she attributes perception and behavior to puberty and the hormonal fluctuations associated with the menstrual cycle. Case studies in this section demonstrate differences between male and female mentality. For instance, in one anecdote, male high school students asked female peers why they went to the bathroom together, while female students asked about male classmates’ pubic hair preferences. To Brizendine, this example supports the claim that female teenagers focus on social connection, while male ones are sexually obsessed with members of the opposite sex. In another case study, Shana’s sleep schedule changed when her estrogen levels began to rise at age 10. She also began exhibiting behavioral issues—poor school performance, aggression, early sexual activity. Brizendine attributes her behavioral issues to her inherent desire to form relationships with other women and to premenstrual dysphoric disorder, or PMDD. Shana also developed symptoms of depression after her boyfriend broke up with her, and her depression serves to discuss the higher rates of depression among post-puberty girls as opposed to boys.

The third chapter focuses on trust and love in cisgender and heterosexual relationships. Melissa met her partner, Rob, while salsa dancing. While Melissa was drawn to Rob, she was subconsciously skeptical of his ability to provide for her and skeptical of male fidelity, as her father had cheated on her mother. Brizendine explains their attraction through a biological lens, with each partner moved by an instinctual drive to successfully procreate. They started dating and slept together after three months, which intensified their infatuation. Both Melissa and Rob experienced withdrawal-like symptoms when Melissa traveled for work one week, so Rob flew out to visit her. A year after she started dating Rob, Melissa sought Brizendine’s advice because her relationship with Rob had grown less passionate. Their relationship had moved into a phase of long-term emotional attachment. Brizendine explicates the bonding process and monogamy by extrapolating to humans studies of voles, through which Brizendine posits that monogamous behavior is largely genetic. Melissa’s anxiety spiked after Rob failed to call her one night, her feeling of rejection experienced similarly to physical pain. After the event, the couple got engaged.

Chapter 4 examines female sexuality—a traditionally neglected area in medical science. Cisgender women sometimes struggle to reach orgasm, which Brizendine attributes to a more active amygdala. Marcie experiences this difficulty with her new partner; however, she is able to climax with him while taking prescribed Valium. Brizendine characterizes female sexual arousal as complicated and highly psychological, while male arousal is dismissed as mechanical. Brizendine explores the purpose of the female orgasm, citing that orgasms pull semen through the cervix. She concludes that women are not designed for monogamy: They are somewhat able to control who inseminates them by orgasming with attractive dominant men who do not participate in relationships, while faking orgasms with caring partners to assuage suspicion of infidelity. According to Brizendine, male humans’ high levels of testosterone cause their higher sex drive. She demonstrates the importance of sex to men through Jane and Evan; when Jane’s libido faded after starting a new job, Evan became frustrated. Brizendine helped them understand their biological perspectives: that sex is as important to men as communication is to women.

Chapter 5 continues following Jane and Evan, who conceived, leading into Brizendine’s discussion of “mommy brain.” In pregnancy, female brains undergo structural changes that start two weeks after conception, resulting in increased thirst, hunger, sedateness, and odor perception. The body generally adapts to the hormonal shifts by the fourth month; in the fifth month, what Brizendine terms the mother’s “love circuits” form. Brizendine makes the sweeping claim that in the late stages of pregnancy, women focus on their unborn child and on thoughts of labor, while male partners are preoccupied with ensuring a proper environment for the coming child. During labor, neurological changes rapidly take place, and mothers imprint their infants’ attributes. Bonding is further developed through breastfeeding which, although often difficult at first, results in the release of oxytocin and dopamine, thus becoming pleasurable. Brizendine stresses the idea that parenting behaviors can be passed down epigenetically, though also suggesting that allomothers—infant carers other than the birth mother—can supplement essential nurturing for children of working or neglectful mothers. Predictability is cited as one of the most influential factors on maternal behaviors, demonstrated through an experiment in which rhesus monkey mothers living in unpredictable circumstances abused their infants.

Chapter 6, unlike the others, does not describe a particular life stage but focuses on emotions. The discussion is driven by two couples, Sarah and Nick, and Jane and Evan. When Sarah intuits Nick’s attraction to his female coworker, she exhibits signs of emotional distress, which Nick does not notice, before accusing him of infidelity. Similarly, Evan cannot intuit Jane’s emotional states—he can’t tell that he is moving the relationship too quickly, and later does not pick up on Jane’s hints that she is ready to get married. Brizendine uses these case studies to support the idea that female adults have stronger emotional perception than male adults. The disparity is attributed to women having more mirror neurons, or neural areas devoted to picking up on emotional cues including vocal tone and facial gestures. Brizendine asserts that female humans naturally suppress their anger, arguing it evolved to keep them safe from aggressive male humans.

The final chapter examines the impacts of menopause. Perimenopause often begins in the early- to mid-forties and is accompanied by lowering levels of sex hormones. This can cause a variety of symptoms, including hot flashes and low libido. Sylvia became exasperated with her demanding and verbally abusive husband, Robert, after their children moved out. She decided to move out and pursue her own interests, which Brizendine states was a result of shifting hormones. Brizendine posits that lower levels of estrogen lead to a reduced interest in caretaking, allowing menopausal women to focus on independent pursuits. She discusses hormone therapy, which can ease menopause symptoms. Brizendine suggests that couples renegotiate their relationships. For instance, a couple years after separating, Sylvia and Robert reconnect, apologize, and reestablish their relationship.