In this hugely readable account Cameron cuts her way through the hype to debunk the myths about language and the sexes that have been propagated in recent popular writing. Drawing on more than 30 years of scientific research in the field of language and gender studies, she explains what the findings really say about men and women and the way they communicate. Essential reading for inhabitants of other planets.

Deborah Cameron is Rupert Murdoch Professor of Language and Communication at the University of Oxford. An internationally-known researcher in the field of language and gender studies, she is the author / editor of several academic books on the subject, as well as many articles.

• 1: Myths, and why they matter


• 2: A time and a place: putting myths in their cultural context


• 3: Partial truths: why difference is not the whole story


• 4: A world of difference? Mars and Venus in childhood and adolescence


• 5: Cross purposes: the myth of male-female misunderstanding


• 6: Back to nature:brains, genes, and evolution


• 7: Public speaking: Mars and Venus in politics and the workplace


• 8: Doing what comes culturally: identity and style


• 9: Beyond Mars and Venus


• Notes


• Index