'The Male Brain': Why Do Men Think The Way They Do? (VIDEO)

Why do men act the way they do? In Dr. Louann Brizendine's new book "The Male Brain," which she wrote about today for the Huffington Post, she explains that biology might be behind more than we think.

On Good Morning America this morning, Dr. Brizendine talked about why men are more promiscuous and think about sex more than women do. "The area for sexual pursuit is 2.5 times larger" in men than women, she said, which tells us that this sex drive is biological in nature. However, when asked if this could excuse cheaters like John Edwards and Tiger Woods, she said:

These things are an explanation of the biological underpinnings of the human male brain. It doesn't mean that men don't have to be civilized.

WATCH:

Comments

[jgBiggums]

03:51 AM on 05/18/2010

check out the review for this book done by a user called Tyro. They pretty thoroughly debunk the many assumptions made which were based on misleading interpretations of the cited studies, exposing it is junk science. http://www.amazon.com/Male-Brain-Louann-Brizendine-M-D/dp/0767927532

[lemondade]

10:31 PM on 03/25/2010

I THINK MOST WOMEN, BY THE TIME THEY ARE MIDDLE-AGED, REALIZE THAT MEN ARE SO VERY HUMAN AND FALLIBLE WHEN IT COMES TO BEING FAITHFUL TO ONE WOMAN ALL THEIR LIVES. IT IS NICE TO THINK AND BELIEVE THAT A HUSBAND OR BOYFRIEND WILL NOT 'CHEAT'; BUT, THE STATISTICS ARE THERE TO PROVE THAT MOST DO. IS IT FAIR: NO. IS IT RIGHT: NO.

LIFE IS NOT FAIR AND NOT RIGHT ALL THE TIME.

[lisakaz2]

10:53 PM on 03/25/2010

So, you got 3 choices. Accept/forgive; do the same thing yourself (whether it comes out or not or involves any acceptance/forgiveness or not) or quit. At the moment, I'm doing the 3rd choice.

[jgBiggums]

03:41 AM on 05/18/2010

statistically the split is about 50/50. women cheat just as much as men.

[Mike169]

12:11 PM on 03/25/2010

Only their wives can forgive them the rest of us shouldn't concern ourselves.

[lemondade]

10:32 PM on 03/25/2010

EVEN GWB HAS SINNED IN SOME WAY SOMEHOW. GOD KNOWS.

[Mike169]

10:21 AM on 03/26/2010

God and about everyone in the USA.

[HeevenSteven]

10:52 PM on 03/24/2010

Men have the default brain since god made man first.....She should explain why women have such a strong drive to buy shoes..

[jgBiggums]

03:42 AM on 05/18/2010

the default gender in the womb is female. if something happens to disrupt a male's development in the womb, they default to female.

[pointyheadprodigy]

10:09 PM on 03/24/2010

Sex drive and lieing are different aren't they? Thought so. You have to untangle these snarls to talk about them clearly. And there is no reason why men shouldn't be expected to do so. Women too. And we should all help each other to do that or we are guilty of creating these very problems. IMO

[lisakaz2]

04:22 PM on 03/24/2010

I don't like excuses. This is about as bad as the "South Park" aliens. If it was sooo encoded, why don't all men act like Cheetah.

[MJinCanada]

04:51 PM on 03/24/2010

Ah, remember -- she said the encoding didn't mean guys couldn't act civilized. Most can, a few can't.

[Mister Biggles]

07:32 PM on 03/24/2010

A few? What % of men do you think are unfaithful?

[lisakaz2]

09:57 PM on 03/24/2010

On your other post -- adopt me and I'll come to Canada and tutor all your kids for ya!

[LaughingMan]

05:26 PM on 03/24/2010

The Chris Rock rule of fidelity:

Men are only as faithful as their options and as they can afford to be.

Tiger Woods is a billionaire athlete with access to lots of women - ergo he cheats.

Put any man in his shoes, and I suspect they'll find it difficult to resist all the options and oppoturnities.

[lisakaz2]

05:35 PM on 03/24/2010

I've heard that. It's partly why I haven't had a serious relationship with a guy in about a decade. I can't take it.

[Mister Biggles]

03:54 PM on 03/24/2010

Civilized = Set up to fail. But you don't get booked on many talk shows or sell a lot of books by irritating women.

Sure, you can ask humans to overcome biology because of artificial social constructs...just don't be surprised when they fail.

What if we made crying rather than fidelity the test of love and marriage?

If you were happy with your spouse, you would never cry, right? And if you do cry it means you don't really love them and you cannot control yourself.

So, even though it would be harder for women to keep this "promise" to not cry, should we act like it's an equal sacrifice and that they are morally inferior when they fail?

[jgBiggums]

03:46 AM on 05/18/2010

there are few negative socioeconomic consequences to crying as apposed to infidelity.

[wcardona]

03:06 PM on 03/24/2010

is this more Mars vs. Venus stuff? don't women have "male" brains as well? i'm not sure we do ourselves any favors by highlighting gender differences... Reportedly, 14% of married women cheat compared to 22% of men who do the same.

We are more alike than different. All embryos mimic the female blueprint until male sex chromosomes kick in - why else do men have nipples?

Rather than focusing on gender differences, maybe we can focus on ideas like monogamy to see if they really make sense (or not).

[LaughingMan]

02:45 PM on 03/24/2010

Of course none of this bothers with facts and reality such as the fact that married women actually cheat on their spouses at a much higher proportion than married men do.

Oh, and it's good to know that as a means of improving their relationships, women should condition their husbands to lie to them about how they understand how they feel., even when they don't -

- because as we all know, nothing helps a relationship grow stronger like some good old fashioned dishonesty.

[lisakaz2]

04:24 PM on 03/24/2010

I did laugh at that last line.

[HeartT]

02:21 PM on 03/24/2010

No one should be excused from bad behavior, including these women. They knew Tiger was married and famous. Could it be that they compromised their dignity for the fame and noteriety they are receiving? What's in their DNA that causes such behavior? No one should be excused from bad behavior, just as we shouldn't be ashamed of our fixation on these types of stories.

[lisakaz2]

04:25 PM on 03/24/2010

IMO they are less responsible than him -- but not by a lot. They did not promise Elin anything in a ceremony.

[shastaman]

01:09 PM on 03/24/2010

REALLY? Did ya git some federal grant monies for this? Genious