Reviews for The symptom of beauty

The average rating for The symptom of beauty based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2013-07-19 00:00:00 Daniel Birello Susan Pinker's book discusses a common problem in our society - the gender gap. Men have ruled the world for far too long. Women are now regaining their rightful place alongside men as leaders both in the office and outside the office. People are being trained on how to encourage women to enter the male-dominated fields such as Science, Techology, and Mathematics. Women want the prestige, the paycheck, and the corner office. Why aren't they flocking to these fields then? Susan Pinker's theory is that while women want the benefits, they don't want the other things that often come with those positions: the 80-hour work week, the inflexible schedule, the sacrifice of family to give all to your company. Pinker delves into this complex and frustrating dilemma by giving examples of biological differences between males and females in addition to the social stereotypes we're working so hard to shirk off. She discusses the myriad of problems that can affect child in utero and how males are more likely to be adversely affected. This, she hypothesizes, is why there are more men in the extremes of behavior - the psychopath or the extremely gifted and intelligent person - whereas there are more "average" women and less of them in these extremes. This has been a fascinating book to read. I thoroughly enjoyed both the data that was presented and the ease of reading. This is not often something you find in a non-fiction book. This book can help many a woman who might be frustrated with her dissatisfaction in her current job and give her possible solutions for finding a better fit. This book can also be a help to the many employers out there who are looking to attract women into their fields. Unfortunately, it seems, women are not likely to be exactly the same as men. This is a good thing and it means that it's not women who are the problem, but the system. If employers are likely to do things that may entice women, such as flex-time, part-time positions, daycare opportunities, self-driven and self-lead positions, then women might be more likely to be applying for positions within their company. There are a lot of incredibly smart and capable women out there who would love a more flexible career. Now we just need to help them find the right jobs for their interests and personalities and to encourage employers to just be a little bit more flexible.

Review # 2 was written on 2013-06-12 00:00:00 James Lizotte Although I am not a fan of "difference biology" about the sexes, this book makes some interesting statements about how comparing the careers of women and men is largely like comparing apples and oranges. Susan Pinker submits, with a great deal of socio-biological research, that new standards for our workplaces must take into consideration the different needs/ambitions of female workers. Considering the needs of men "standard" is fallacious, and is only continuing the disinterest of women in top-earning, high - paying positions. Current standards and workplace recruitment campaigns alone cannot bring women in; considered planning and environmental changes in the office are what's needed for more women to prioritize many career offerings. Where this book fell down for me is Ms. Pinker spends a lot of time on "extreme" male biology (examples of men with ADHD, Autism, or other conditions) who became successful as models for how extreme behavior suits the current workplace standards and demands. I would have appreciated more discussion on what the author thought needed to happen in the future (besides subsidized childcare) to offer women a raft over the glass ceiling. And although Susan Pinker is fairly clear about where she is making generalizations (which is often) I found her focus on "women's lives" to typically be about married women with children -- a population that is losing ground as the female "standard".