Girl Talk: What Science Can Tell Us About Female Friendship

by Jacqueline Mroz

In Girl Talk, New York Times science reporter Jacqueline Mroz takes on the science of female friendship--a phenomenon that's as culturally powerful as it is individually mysterious. She examines friendship from a range of angles, from the historical to the experiential, with a scientific analysis that reveals new truths about what leads us to connect and build alliances, and then "break up" when a friendship no longer serves us.

Mroz takes a new look at how friendship has evolved throughout history, showing how friends tend to share more genetic commonalities than strangers, and that the more friends we have, the more empathy and pleasure chemicals are present in our brains. Scientists have also reported that friendship directly influences health and longevity; women with solid, supportive friendships experience fewer "fight or flight" impulses and stronger heart function, and women without friendships tend to develop medical challenges on par with those associated with smoking and excessive body weight.

With intimate reporting and insightful analysis, Mroz reveals new awareness about the impact of women's friendships, and how they shape our culture at large.

• ISBN10: 1580057675
• ISBN13: 9781580057677
• Publish Date: 13 December 2018
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Seal Press
• Format: Paperback (UK Trade)
• Pages: 288
• Language: English

Reviews

[Joséphine]

Audiobook rating: 3 stars
Book rating: 3.5 stars

Initial thoughts: The audiobook narration was absolutely terrible. The narrator was very stilted, making unnatural breaks as though she was was reading an extremely long list rather than prose. Before every break, the narrator added inflections as one does at the and of a sentence, which made listening doubly painful. I was quite difficult to concentrate on the content because I was distracted by the annoying flow of speech. Still, I persisted because this is a fascinating topic.

Mroz discussed why female friendships tend to be much more tenuous than male ones, while also exploring their depth, positive impacts on health (both mental and physical), and how they're a social glue that help women fulfil their roles in society as employees, mothers, grandmothers, wives, etc.

As expected, this discourse led to a lot of generalisations, although the author stopped short of making sweeping statements that assumed all women are the same. She made concessions for women who deviate from the female "norm". Sadly, she didn't explore why that is.

In some regards, I did find Girl Talk insightful, as it shed light on why I might have lost some of my closest friends over the years in deeply painful and confusing "friendship break-ups". However, a significant amount of this book hinged on the author's personal anecdotes. Given that more than a hundred women were surveyed, more weight should've been placed on that research.