John Gray, one of the leading proponents of gender role stereotyping and the promiscuously prolific author of such piles of steaming crap as “Women are from Venus, Men are from Mars” has excreted a new pile of steaming feces disguised as some sort of thoughtful self help book.
According to Wikipedia our “expert”, John Gray has nearly as illustrious set of academic credentials as the sock puppet named M. Italiano:
Gray was born in Houston, Texas. After graduating high school, Gray attended University of St. Thomas and the University of Texas without receiving any degrees. He did receive a bachelors and masters degrees in creative intelligence, though sources vary on whether these degrees were received from Maharishi European Research University in Switzerland or from Maharishi International University in Iowa.[3][4][5]
Gray received his Ph.D. from the unaccredited institution, Columbia Pacific University (CPU), after completing a correspondence course.[3][6] CPU was closed by California court order in 2000.[7] The court ruled that the State of California recognizes CPU degrees earned before June 25, 1997, as “legally valid” for use in the state, but other states, such as Texas, criminalize the use of CPU degrees. This time period above included Gray’s degree which he received in 1982.[7]
So this peddler of garbage gender theory has a new scam that is being reported upon on Alternet:
Why Self-Help Books That Promise Happiness Are a Scam
This month hormones are to blame for the fact that men and women can’t get along. But for only $29.95, you can learn the easy cure.
According to John Gray, in Venus on Fire, Mars on Ice, the solution to what ails us is simple. The modern world is stressful for men and women, more so than ever, and thus humans produce more cortisol in response. But while cortisol gives us the jolt needed to outrun saber tooth tigers, or deal with equivalent emergencies like mis-addressing a sensitive email, over time, cortisol suppresses other good hormones like oxytocin (for women) and testosterone (for men). That makes us each wound up and run down. Ugh. Men and women are from different planets, and it takes lots of energy to communicate with aliens. And this hormonal problem means we have an even harder time of it, and end up arguing more, which produces more cortisol and less happiness.
The solution? Women need to spend more time nurturing and being nurtured, which stimulates oxytocin. And men need to solve problems under pressure, then lie on the couch and watch TV, which uses and then replenishes their testosterone levels. We all also need to eat better. Oh and we need to buy a special nutritional supplement made in Canada called PGX which is “remarkable.”
Continue reading at: http://www.alternet.org/story/147048/why_self-help_books_that_promise_happiness_are_a_scam/
As a stone atheist who prefers living in a reality based world rather than one governed by superstition, scams and quackery, John Gray has always tweaked my dubious meter into the portion of the scale that reads sketchy at best. Perhaps it is how he comes of in an unctuous manner during his many appearances on that ever popular purveyor of squishy thinking, the Oprah Winfrey Show.
Men and women are both from earth and the sooner we get over all this gender crap and realized both sexes are complex people with desires, needs, goals and abilities that largely over lap the better off we will all be.
I don’t care if it is Jon Gray peddling this crap or Carol Gilligan. One of the major reasons why transsexuals are able to change sex and adapt to gender roles they were not assigned to at birth is due to characteristics overlapping rather than being distinct and sharply distinguished.
Perhaps it is time to wipe out most post 1970s thinking regarding gender. The last 30 years have been a reactionary nightmare as described by Susan Faludi in her book “Backlash”.
Hell, even our much beloved Dr. Benjamin saw the sexes as overlapping and defined by multiple aspects.
Women Born Transsexual 