Sax says that there are some circumstances where single-sex education are beneficial but asserts that boys and girls have "different needs, different abilities, and different goals" (9). .
Dr. Sax closes chapter 1 by letting readers know that he is addressing them as both parents and teachers, reminding us that the two are not mutually exclusive. Both face struggles in dealing with children and want to see children reach their potential. Sax provides some highlights in his book that are aimed at teachers, primarily concerning how to talk to children about drugs and getting them excited in math and art. .
The second chapter of "Why Gender Matters" is titled "Female Brains, Male Brains." This is the primary focus of the chapter as it examines an important factor in the biological determination of sex, the brain. The previous chapter touched on this subject with some mentions about how females have more developed hearing than males. It turns out, there are many more characteristics that the brain determines than just hearing. In fact, as with hearing, these characteristics are crucial in understanding how boys and girls behave as well as the implications they have on teaching. .
Research on differences in sex is not new. In 1964, it was found that asymmetry in the brain, regarding language functions, is much less noticeable in women than in men. This research by Herbert Lansdell was an extension of findings in the 1800's by Charles Edouard Brown-Sequard and Henry Charlton Bastian that the left side of the brain was focused on language. This discovery was made by studying patients suffering from a stroke on different sides of the brain. More modern measurements demonstrated this correlation, showing that men's verbal IQ suffered by 20 percent when there was a stroke on the left side of the brain. Again, women do not show such a dramatic drop in language skill. .
Scientists were confident that these differences in the brain were caused by hormones.