S1 E3. Woman and Sex-Gender Myths: Gina Rippon, The Gendered Brain

In this episode, I talk with Professor Emeritus of Cognitive Neuroimaging Gina Rippon about her book, The Gendered Brain, which for our US listeners is called Gender and Our Brains.

Since the day we are born, we face deeply ingrained (false) beliefs that our sex determines our skills and preferences - from toys and colors to career choices and salaries. Using the latest neuroscience, Gina unpacks the stereotypes and shows how these messages mold our ideas of ourselves, each other and even shape our brains accordingly. She explores how the idea of a gendered brain has led to long-standing inequality and how busting these myths can help reduce the (mis)use of neuroscience research to (mis)represent our understanding of the brain.

Some topics of discussion include:

1. The origins of the “female brain” and “male brain” myth, and what perpetuates it
2. How “a gendered world produces a gendered brain”
3. How early “gender bombardment” begins and the role it has from day zero of a child’s life
4. Why women experience lower levels of self-esteem and higher rates of self-silencing
5. The gender gap in certain STEM fields
6. The future of sex and gender, and where we need to go from here in order to get rid of these myths once and for all

And more!

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The quotes you will hear read during the interview are taken directly from the book, The Gendered Brain.

Transcription is available here

Mentioned in the episode:

• Scientific American article
• Testosterone Rex - Cordelia Fine
• Reshma Saujani - Girls Who Code
• Anne Fausto-Sterling
• Daphna Joel
• Lise Eliot - Pink Brain, Blue Brain