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The Sexual Paradox: Men, Women and the Real Gender Gap | 
| Author: Susan Pinker
Publisher: Scribner
Category: Book
List Price: $26.00
Buy New: $11.01
You Save: $14.99 (58%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  5 reviews
Sales Rank: 116264
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 352
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.3
ISBN: 0743284704
Dewey Decimal Number: 306.3615
EAN: 9780743284707
ASIN: 0743284704
Publication Date: March 11, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Susan Pinker, psychologist and award-winning columnist, has written a groundbreaking and controversial book that reveals why learning and behavioral gaps between boys and girls in the classroom are reversed in the workplace.Pinker examines how fundamental sex differences play out over the life span. By comparing fragile boys who succeed later with high-achieving women who opt out or plateau in their careers, Pinker turns several assumptions upside down: that women and men are biologically equivalent, that intelligence is all it takes to succeed, and that women are just versions of men, with identical interests and goals. In lively prose, Pinker guides readers through the latest findings in neuroscience and economics while addressing these questions: Are males the more fragile sex? What do men with Asperger syndrome or dyslexia tell us about more average men? Which sex is the happiest at work? Why do some male college dropouts earn more than the bright girls who sat beside them in third grade? After three decades of women's educational coups, why do men outnumber women in corporate law, engineering, physical science, and politics? The answers to these questions are the opposite of what we expect. A provocative examination of how and why learning and behavioral gaps in the nursery are reversed in the boardroom, this illuminating book reveals how sex differences influence career choices and ambition. Through the stories of real men and women, science, and examples from popular culture, Susan Pinker takes a new look at the differences between women and men.
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| Customer Reviews:
 So much speculation August 13, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I'm very sympathetic to the idea that men's and women's brains are biologically different, but Pinker relies far too much on purely anecdotal and journalistic evidence to have persuaded me that I'm right. The more academic evidence she adduces is too often similarly weak in its reliance on self-reporting and surveys -- surely an argument for biological not cultural difference depends, ultimately, on biological evidence, and there's just not enough here. But the more fundamental flaw with the book is that Pinker just assumes that there's a difference between men's and women's experiences, without establishing that there even is a difference. In a chapter about successful women leaving high-paying jobs because they don't want work to consume their lives, for example, she admits that when women work as much as men they become ... just as unhappy as men!
 Pinker Says What Others Will Not July 17, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I came across this book one rainy afternoon at my local bookstore, and ended up reading it for the next two hours. Essentially an overview of why men and women seek very different career paths, "The Sexual Paradox" sheds light on some recent trends that others are quite honestly afraid to discuss.
We all know that women often abandon corporate careers in greater numbers than men. In addition, it's not outlandish to say that women do this in order to spend more time with their spouses and/or children, and are willing to let go of the handsome salaries they've worked so very hard to attain.
While that might sound sexist to some, it's a reality across the United States, if not the world in general. If anything, one might think that women have an advantage in certain careers like law -- because they certainly have higher scores in areas such as reading comprehension and writing. Despite this, our society makes demands upon women that many are simply unwilling to meet.
In essence, we need to become more accommodating to the diversity of the workforce, primarily in gender. Issues such as flex-time, maternity leave and perhaps even telecommuting could be used to make such jobs and workplaces more attractive to women, and also lessen the burden of men. The more diverse our companies, the better. Men and women both have EQUAL amounts to offer our society.
As a 22-year-old man majoring in public relations (a decidedly "female" field) I was intrigued by Pinker's overview in education. Clearly, to work in my field one needs highly developed reading and writing skills -- there's just no way around it. As the result of teaching methods that are simply outdated and ineffective, many boys do not develop these skills as well as their female peers...
And I for one would like to see something change.
In sum, Pinker does society a great service by breaking taboo and suggesting that perhaps men and women are biologically different, but that doesn't mean that either gender is any better (or worse) than the other. Perhaps in time we can begin to address these issues with honesty, and work to create a world where both sets of individuals are given equal chance to succeed -- preferably in an environment that doesn't favor one ideology over the other.
 Will redefine your concept of feminism July 15, 2008
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
This thoroughly researched, fascinating book looks at many of the assumptions North Americans hold about gender differences and reveals some startling facts. Pinker systematically sets out to prove that women are quite different than men biologically and are actually FAVORED (not oppressed) by many cultural institutions, most notably schools and universities. As an educator and a young professional woman, I found Pinker's thesis closely matches my own experiences.
By challenging the idea that women must measure themselves the same way they measure men, this book helps readers embrace a new and more relevant brand of feminism. The style is fairly academic, but each chapter contains a number of interesting and cutting-edge studies that should help you get through the slower bits.
 Needs a more rigorous framework July 13, 2008
6 out of 10 found this review helpful
This is "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus" pop psychology attempting to hide behind biological "empiricism." A mirror-image of this book could easily be written arguing the exact opposite about "biological" differences. It made me uncomfortable how Pinker uses examples and personal stories as "evidence" for her theories and conclusions, very Camille Paglia I thought to myself, and all of a sudden she pops up in the book when Pinker approvingly cites one of her deliciously readable--but hardly original--epigrams, "There is no female Mozart because there is no female Jack the Ripper." This level of argument just isn't rigorous enough for this topic because it's been said way too many times. We've heard about biological differences for the past 50 years, and yet people like Pinker want to pretend that they're being "controversial" for stating common sense, what everyone thinks. This is what we all intuitively believe, I want my intuitions to be confronted not reproduced. You want controversy?? Read Anne Fausto Sterling's "Sexing the Body." There's way too many books out there like this one.
The definitive book on gender issues May 30, 2008
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
Excellent book on gender stereotyping and issues. Pinker asks whether we really want to use men as the base for our evaluations. The book is long and crammed with information. It is a very worthwhile read though. Both men and women will find the book interesting and useful
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