The four factors driving the new crisis for girls

"The best book about the current state of girls and young women in America . . . offers astonishing and troubling new insight . . ."
   — The Atlantic magazine, February 2011


"Packed with advice and concrete suggestions for parents, Girls on the Edge is a treasure trove of rarely-seen research on girls, offering families guidance on some of the most pressing issues facing girls today. Dr Sax's commitment to girls' success comes through on every page."
   — Rachel Simmons, author of Odd Girl Out and The Curse of the Good Girl


"This is essential reading for parents and teachers, and one of the most thought-provoking books on teen development available."
   — Library Journal, May 1 2010


"Crucial . . .Parents of tween and teen girls would do well to check this book."    — Professor Mark Bauerlein, Emory University, April 30 2010, writing for The Chronicle of Higher Education


"In clear, accessible language, Sax deftly blends anecdotes, clinical research, and even lines of poetry in persuasive, often fascinating chapters that speak straight to parents . . . Warning that a 1980s solution won't help solve twenty-first-century problems, Sax offers a holistic, sobering call to help the current generation of young women develop the support and sense of self that will allow them to grow into resilient adults."
   — Booklist, April 15 2010


"Dr. Sax once again combines years of experience with compelling research and common sense to intelligently challenge the status quo of what it means to raise a healthy daughter. Girls on the Edge offers skills parents can incorporate to feel more competent with our girls and young women."
   — Florence Hilliard, Director, Gender Studies Project, University of Wisconsin - Madison


"Turn off your cell phones and computers, and read this book! You will connect with your daughter in new ways, and she will thank you."
   — Rabbi Sandy Eisenberg Sasso, author of In God's Name and God's Paintbrush


"Written through real stories and supported by strong evidence in the fields of education, psychology, and the sciences -- a MUST read."
   — Margaret Ferrara PhD, University of Nevada - Reno


"Leonard Sax brings together a rare combination of psychoanalytic training with a deep empathy for girls and their stories in this important book. His argument that girls are struggling to find their centers will resonate and his recommendations for how to locate them will inspire."
   — Courtney E. Martin, author of Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters



---



Boys Adrift:

The five factors driving the growing epidemic of unmotivated boys and underachieving young men

“Boys Adrift is a must-read for any parent of boys. This is real science, and Dr. Sax thoroughly uncovers the important health issues that parents of boys need to be tuned into.”
— Dr. Mehmet Oz, Professor and Vice Chairman, New York Presbyterian Hospital, Columbia University; and co-author of the bestseller YOU: Staying Young: The Owner's Manual for Extending Your Warranty


“Excellent and informative references and information are provided . . . Powerfully and persuasively presented.”
— The Journal of the American Medical Association; click here to link to the full review


“Startling . . . like a brick thrown through your window.”
— CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation); click here to read the complete post


“Sax, in his pointed, conversational new book, Boys Adrift, reports seeing something new in his medical practice, and hearing something disturbing in the comments after his talks around the nation. Parents and girlfriends describe boys and young men plastered to the controls of their video games, hostile to school, disconnected from adult men and listless on "academic steroids" prescribed to them for attention deficit disorders. Sax zeroes in on these maladies . . .Boys Adrift is an important entry into the conversation. This call to reconsider how the boy becomes the man is worth heeding.”
— The Cleveland Plain Dealer; click here to read the full review


“Dr. Sax is the Al Gore of the gender crisis. He has EDUCATED us about the nature and scope of the problem. He has WARNED us about the consequences of doing nothing. And he has INSPIRED us to take action in our schools and in our communities.”
— Michael Halfin, Huron Heights Secondary School, Newmarket, Ontario

“Boys Adrift presents a straightforward argument that incorporates solid research and, thankfully, does not blame feminism. . . Sax also makes sure to remind us that he doesn't think girls have it easier. But at a time when it is almost unusual to find a young man with drive and direction, Sax's work is an important part of a growing public discussion. ”
— The Stranger (Seattle's alternative newspaper); click here to link to the full review -- AND to view a provocative illustration by artist Kris Chau

“This book is insightful, engaging, and easy to read. It is essential reading for parents of girls and boys, and for those who expect to become parents. I have passed my copy of the book to my daughter. The epidemic of unmotivated boys and underachieving men is real and demands action; this book provides a carefully researched analysis of the problem and offers useful advice on how to deal with it.”
— Professor Craig Anderson, Iowa State University

“This is the most important book that I have ever read, and I've read a lot of parenting books. I have purchased ten copies and am giving them as Christmas and birthday gifts to all of my friends who have boys. I have kept 3 for myself which I am loaning out. This is a must read for anyone who has a boy. ”
— Lisa Morgan-Long, Oakville, Ontario; click here to link to the original comment

---

Why Gender Matters

What Parents and Teachers Need to Know about the Emerging Science of Sex Differences

"Until recently, there have been two groups of people: those who argue sex differences are innate and should be embraced and those who insist that they are learned and should be eliminated by changing the environment. Sax is one of the few in the middle -- convinced that boys and girls are innately different and that we must change the environment so differences don't become limitations."
          -- TIME Magazine, cover story; click here to read the original story



Praise for Why Gender Matters:

". . . a lucid guide to male and female brain differences. . ."
The New York Times

"When I was a college freshman, a male teaching assistant I sought help from told me matter-of-factly that women were not good at inorganic chemistry. Had I been armed with Why Gender Matters, about how biological differences between the sexes can influence learning and behavior, I could have managed an informed rejoinder to go along with my shocked expression. . . . Using studies as well as anecdotes from his practice and visits to classrooms, [Sax] offers advice on such topics as preventing drug abuse and motivating students. . . . The book is thought-provoking, and Sax explains well the science behind his assertions. . . [Why Gender Matters] is a worthy read for those who care about how best to prepare children for the challenges they face on the path to adulthood."
Scientific American Mind

"As the principal of an elementary school, I am constantly on the lookout for outstanding articles and books about gender-specific learning differences. Why Gender Matters is the best I've read."
-John Webster, Head of School, the San Antonio Academy

"Why Gender Matters is an outstanding work of scholarship. I am going to make it our 'faculty read' this summer."
-Paul Krieger, Headmaster, Christ School (North Carolina)

"In this reader-friendly book, Dr. Sax combines his comprehensive knowledge of the scientific literature with numerous interesting case studies to argue for his thesis that single-sex education is advantageous."
Dr. Sandra Witelson, Albert Einstein/Irving Zucker Chair in Neuroscience, McMaster University

"Extremely interesting . . . Challenged many of my basic assumptions and helped me to think about gender in a new way."
Joan Ogilvy Holden, Head of School, St. Stephen's School, Alexandria, Virginia

"I simply will never be able to express how eye-opening this book has been for me. Yes me -- even though I thought I was a boy-raising specialist. After all, I have produced four healthy and smart athletes. I must know what I'm doing. But many of my boy-raising days I thought I was going mad. I'd come home from some sports event trembling because of the way the coach yelled at my kid. I'd ask my husband and whichever son it happened to be that day how they could stand being yelled at like that. Almost every time husband and son would look at me and not have any recollection of being yelled at during the game. Now I understand!!!!!!!!!"
-Janet Phillips, mother of four boys, Seneca, Maryland

"Why Gender Matters is an instructive handbook for parents and teachers . . . to create ways to cope with the differences between boys and girls."
-The Boston Globe

"Fascinating . . . This book is interesting because it takes an 'outside the box' position on gender. Paradoxically, Sax says, gender-neutral education favors the learning style of one sex or the other, and so only drives men and women into the usual stereotyped fields. The best way to raise your son to be a man who is caring and nurturing, says Sax, is to first of all let him be a boy. The best way to produce a female mathematician is to first of all let her be a girl. . . I think Sax is on to something. Mature men and women do draw on qualities that stereotypically belong to the opposite sex. But the easiest way to get them to that point is to first make them confident about being a man or a woman. . . Sax adds that children are less happy and confident nowadays because no one is teaching them how to be men and women. This is a powerful, even obvious insight, once you dare think it. . . In quick succession, with Mary Eberstadt's Home Alone America and Leonard Sax's Why Gender Matters, we've seen two important, creative, and politically incorrect takes on family life and childhood."
-Stanley Kurtz, National Review Online.

---

My education and experience

I attended public schools in Shaker Heights, Ohio, from kindergarten through grade 12. I graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1980 with a bachelor's degree in biology, and then went to the University of Pennsylvania, where I earned both a PhD (in psychology) and an MD. I went on to do a 3-year residency in family practice at Lancaster General Hospital in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. In 1990, I launched a family medical practice in suburban Montgomery County, Maryland, about 30 minutes northwest of the District of Columbia. I practiced in the same location, serving families in the same small town, for 18 years (1990 - 2008). My wife and I lived about 300 yards from my office. In 2008, I retired from medical practice in order to devote myself to being a better husband and a better father, and also in order to have more time to visit schools, to learn more about gender differences, to lead professional development workshops, and to help run The Montgomery Center for Research in Child & Adolescent Development (MCRCAD), d/b/a The Alliance for Choice in Education, formerly known as the National Association for Single Sex Public Education (NASSPE) .

---

Take a look at some comments from people who have heard me speak

---

I had the privilege of serving as guest editor for a special issue of Education.com devoted to gender differences in how children learn. I also contributed to this special issue, as well as editing it. Regarding my other publications: I have broken down the following (partial) list into "scholarly" and "popular." "Scholarly" publications are intended for an academic audience, professors at universities etc. "Popular" publications are intended for a general audience.

Selected popular publications

Unexpected sex differences in brain development
Psychology Today, December 2010.

Why are so many girls cutting themselves?
Psychology Today March 2010.

Child psychiatry is sick with hidden conflicts of interest,
New York Daily News, December 14, 2008.

TWILIGHT sinks its teeth into feminism
Washington Post August 17, 2008.
My op-ed about Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series has prompted many comments, mostly negative. Many of the bloggers seem to have read only the headline (written by an editor at the Post), and assumed I was attacking feminism, which I wasn't. Other bloggers assumed that I didn't like the Twilight books, and wrote about how great the books are. Please take a look at my response to the bloggers at this link.

What's happening to boys?
Washington Post, March 31, 2006.

In this op-ed for the Washington Post March 31 2006, I called attention to the growing phenomenon of the "Failure to Launch" boy/man: a young man in his 20's, or even his 30's, who is still living at home with his parents -- and who doesn't see what the problem is. The Washington Post invited me to host a one-hour on-line chat, which broke all previous records for the Washington Post: they shut the system down after receiving 395 posts. You can read the transcript of the online chat session here.

The Promise and the Peril of Single-Sex PUBLIC Education,
Education Week, March 2, 2005, pp. 48, 34, 35.

Too Few Women: Figure It Out.
Los Angeles Times, January 23, 2005, p. M5.

Teens Will Speed. Let's Watch Them Do It.
The Washington Post, November 28, 2004, p. B8.

The Odd Couple: Hillary Clinton & Kay Bailey Hutchison
The Women's Quarterly (The Journal of the Independent Women's Forum), Summer 2002, pp. 14-16.

Single Sex Education: Ready for Prime Time?
The World & I, August 2002, pp. 257-269.

Rethinking Title IX
The Washington Times, July 2 2001, p. A17.

Ritalin: Better living through chemistry?
The World & I, November 2000, 287-299.

---

Selected scholarly publications

Sex differences in hearing: implications for best practice in the classroom.
Advances in Gender and Education, 2:13-21, 2010. Full text available online at no charge at Advances in Gender and Education web site.

Polyethylene Terephthalate May Yield Endocrine Disruptors.
Environmental Health Perspectives, 118(4):445-448, 2010. Full text available online by clicking here (full PDF).

My commentary on the possible risks of PET triggered a hostile reply from Ralph Vasami, director of the trade group representing manufacturers of PET. You can read his letter, and my answer to his letter, by clicking here. This is a two-page PDF; my reply to Vasami is on the second page.

Six degrees of separation:
What teachers need to know about the emerging science of sex differences.
Educational Horizons, 84:190-212, Spring 2006.

The Diagnosis and Treatment of ADHD in Women.
The Female Patient, 29:29-34, November 2004.

Dietary Phosphorus Is Toxic for Girls But Not for Boys.
Invited chapter, in: Annual Reviews in Food & Nutrition (Victor Preedy, editor), Taylor & Francis Publishers, London, UK, 2003, Chapter 8, pp. 158-168.

Who First Suggests the Diagnosis of Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder? A survey of primary-care pediatricians, family physicians, and child psychiatrists
[with Kathleen J. Kautz RN, BSN]. Annals of Family Medicine, 2003, 1:171-174. Available online here.

What Was the Cause of Nietzsche's Dementia?
Journal of Medical Biography, Royal Medical Society, London, February 2003, 11:47-54. Available online here.

How Common Is Intersex?
The Journal of Sex Research, August 2002, 39(3):174-178. Available online here.

Maybe Men and Women Are Different.
American Psychologist, July 2002, pp. 444-445.

The Institute of Medicine's ‘Dietary Reference Intake' for Phosphorus: a critical perspective.
Journal of the American College of Nutrition, 20(4):271-278, 2001.

Reclaiming Kindergarten: making kindergarten less harmful to boys.
Psychology of Men and Masculinity, American Psychological Association, 2(1):3-12, 2001. Download full text as a PDF by clicking here.

Characteristics of spatiotemporal integration in the priming and rewarding effects of medial forebrain bundle stimulation.
Behavioral Neuroscience, 105(6):884-900, 1991. [with C. R. Gallistel]

Are we training too many subspecialists?
Journal of the American Medical Association, 259(18):2697-2698, 1988.

Temporal integration in self-stimulation: a paradox.
Behavioral Neuroscience, 98(3):467-478, 1984.

---

Contact me

You can reach me by e-mail, snail mail, fax, or telephone:

E-mail: send e-mail to MCRCAD "at" verizon.net (replace "at" with "@").

Snail mail: send regular mail to me c/o MCRCAD, 64 East Uwchlan Avenue, #259, Exton, Pennsylvania 19341.

Fax: send a fax to 610 993 3139.

Telephone: call us at 610 296 2821 between 9 AM and 4 PM Eastern Time.

You can visit my Facebook page by clicking here, but I'm not very skilled with FB as you will quickly discover.

---

Top of this page