Sex difference

No one doubts that there are differences between male and female. However, the issue becomes more complicated as soon as we ask how and why men and women differ.

The perennial nature-nurture debate is no nearer being answered than it was when the burgeoning women's movement began asking difficult questions.

The books in this section represent a variety of positions, from critiques of the scientific evidence used to "prove" innate differences to John Gray's famous declaration that men and women are from different planets.

Of special interest is John Colapinto's biography of David Reimar, for whom the nature-nurture debate was of far more than theoretical interest. See below.

Recommended reading from

Biology at work: rethinking sexual equality by Kingsley R. Browne

For Browne, sex discrimination and sex role socialization account for only part of the disparity between men and women in the workplace. The other source of difference is evolutionary, the result of the different demands that survival and reproduction have made on men and women throughout human history. Browne argues that the evolutionary strengths of women and men should be embraced in the workplace. Read more.

Myths of Gender: Biological Theories About Women and Men by Anne Fausto-Sterling

Fausto-Sterling critiques the science behind gender studies. Read more.

As Nature Made Him: The Boy Who Was Raised as a Girl by John Colapinto

Biography of David Reimar.  After a botched circumcision, David was raised as a girl on the advice of sexologist Dr John Money.  Money claimed "Brenda" as a success for his own theory of gender identity, using him and his twin brother as case studies.  But "Brenda" never adapted to girlhood, and after discovering his medical history at 14 returned to life as a boy.  Tragically, David Reimar took his own life in 2004 at the age of 38. Read more.

Eve's Rib: Searching for the Biological Roots of Sex Differences by Robert Pool

Pool examines current scientific research on sex differences between men and women.  He concludes that sex differences are the result of interaction between biology and culture. Read more.

Eve's Rib: The New Science of Gender-Specific Medicine and How It Can Save Your Life by Marianne J Legato

This book traces the physical differences between women and men beyond the reproductive system, and their implications for health care. Read more.

Other resources

• Gender differences online: On-Line Smiles: Does Gender Make a Difference in the Use of Graphic Accents and Gender, Pseudonyms, and CMC: Masking Identities and Baring Souls
• The Gender Genie - enter some text and see if the Gender Genie's algorithm can guess the author's gender.

More on sex difference in the Sex and Gender Resource

• Difference and sameness - the political implications.

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