Gender Matters?

I have been reading a fascinating book written by Leonard Sax called "Gender Matters". It is the first truly compelling book on the subject I have read to date. Typically, books on similar topics either bash cultural influences on gender roles (and some even say everything to do with gender is nothing but a social construct) to trying to convince you to use gender stereotypes, both positive and negative, in raising and educating children. What I find fascinating about this book is that it does neither. It also does not bemoan the beleaguered state of male education or the cultural stereotypes that still foster pay inequities for women, the glass ceiling, etc. It acknowledges all of these things as forces, but the content is focused purely on the scientific and biological difference in all primate species between men and women. It does not preach absolutes....Individuals are individuals. It does, however, lay out a series of scientific facts about the ways men and women are different (it goes to great lengths to use the word different....not better or worse, but just different) such as:

*The construct of the type of receptors in Male and Female eyes and how this impacts how we see color, shapes, objects in motion, etc.
*The differences in male and female ear construction that lead to more acute senses of hearing at different volume and wave lengths between the two
*Differences in behavior around risk taking
*Differences in how we interact in single gender groups (How male monkeys play with male monkeys, females with females, etc.)
*Differences in aggression and the effects of brain chemistry
*How sexual orientation has no impact on many of the biological differences in gender (gay men see and hear the same as "straight" men, for example)
*And more

All in all, it is a fascinating book and one I highly suggest all parents read. It talks a great deal about how to use both single sex and mixed gender classrooms, using what we know about gender differences in learning, to make math and science more accessible (generally speaking) to women and writing and art more accessible (generally speaking) to boys. In general, it talks about how to continue to improve the educational experience for both females and males. It also talks about how to work with children who don't seem to fully fall within the pattern being described. No overt political agenda have I found yet, which also makes it an truly enjoyable read.