![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Title: The Myth of Mars and Venus: Do Men and Women Really Speak Different Languages?
Author: Deborah Cameron
Number of Pages: 196 pages
Book Number/Goal: 40/40 for 2010
My Rating: 3.5/5
Jacket Summary: A thriving industry of self-help manuals and popular science books has grown up in the last fifteen years, all based on the assertion that there are fundamental differences in the way that men and women use language to communicate. Whether the reason given is nature, nurture, or planet of origin, the Mars and Venus story is widely accepted. But, asks Deborah Cameron, why do so many people find it convincing? Drawing on the findings of more than thirty years of academic research, Cameron dispels the myths to tell a much more complicated--and satisfying--story, and shows how selective and inaccurate is the picture presented by many popular writers. She also demonstrates that popular asumptions about male-female miscommunication can have far-reaching consequences in many areas of life: for example, attitutes to sexual violence or discrimination in the work-place.
Review: I originally read a series of excerpts from this book online (all three are linked in this old post of mine) and really liked what Cameron had to say. I still do, but unfortunately the book doesn't feel like it really expands on those essays at all, despite being almost two-hundred pages long. Also the section on trans people, while not outright offensive, made me :-/. She consistently talks about men who want to be women and women who want to be men, etc. Anyway, I recommend the essays, but don't feel like the book really had much to add.
Author: Deborah Cameron
Number of Pages: 196 pages
Book Number/Goal: 40/40 for 2010
My Rating: 3.5/5
Jacket Summary: A thriving industry of self-help manuals and popular science books has grown up in the last fifteen years, all based on the assertion that there are fundamental differences in the way that men and women use language to communicate. Whether the reason given is nature, nurture, or planet of origin, the Mars and Venus story is widely accepted. But, asks Deborah Cameron, why do so many people find it convincing? Drawing on the findings of more than thirty years of academic research, Cameron dispels the myths to tell a much more complicated--and satisfying--story, and shows how selective and inaccurate is the picture presented by many popular writers. She also demonstrates that popular asumptions about male-female miscommunication can have far-reaching consequences in many areas of life: for example, attitutes to sexual violence or discrimination in the work-place.
Review: I originally read a series of excerpts from this book online (all three are linked in this old post of mine) and really liked what Cameron had to say. I still do, but unfortunately the book doesn't feel like it really expands on those essays at all, despite being almost two-hundred pages long. Also the section on trans people, while not outright offensive, made me :-/. She consistently talks about men who want to be women and women who want to be men, etc. Anyway, I recommend the essays, but don't feel like the book really had much to add.
