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silea's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
informative
fast-paced
4.75
I highly recommend the audio version of this book. It is read by the author, and she does an excellent job.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexism and Animal death
purplepenning's review
challenging
funny
informative
medium-paced
4.5
"Truth lies in diversity and transparency."
An exceptionally readable, enthusiastically funny, and necessary expansion on the "blinkered science" that has misrepresented the female of the species. From the aggressively dominant female hyena on the cover to the peaceful and cooperatively dominant female bonobos, from the murderous matriarchal meercat to the menopausal mensch of a matrilineal orca pod — the animal world is a fascinating spectrum of form and behavior that is far more interesting and diverse than the "sexist mythology" of stereotypes that have been "baked into" our studies of biology.
An exceptionally readable, enthusiastically funny, and necessary expansion on the "blinkered science" that has misrepresented the female of the species. From the aggressively dominant female hyena on the cover to the peaceful and cooperatively dominant female bonobos, from the murderous matriarchal meercat to the menopausal mensch of a matrilineal orca pod — the animal world is a fascinating spectrum of form and behavior that is far more interesting and diverse than the "sexist mythology" of stereotypes that have been "baked into" our studies of biology.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Sexism, and Violence
Minor: Sexual content, Animal cruelty, and Excrement
tinytrashqueen's review against another edition
challenging
informative
medium-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexism, Misogyny, and Animal death
serendipitysbooks's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
Bitch was such a fascinating read, combining my interest in animal behaviour with my feminist principles in an engaging if anthropomorphic manner. The author convincingly shows how many traditionally held views about female animals - submissive, monogamous, passive, weak- are being overturned, that the animal kingdom provides many examples disproving the idea of a sexual binary, and that there is a lot of patriarchal and homophobic resistance to these new findings. I learned so many fascinating things while reading this book. Here are just a few examples.
1. The female anemone fish is dominant and defends the territory while the male cares for the eggs. More surprisingly if something should happen to her he will transform into the new dominant female and one of their juvenile males will mature to become her mate.
2. In one colony of Laysans albatross roughly one third of the pairs incubating eggs and rearing chicks are both female.
3. Female ducks have evolved an anatomical response to forced couplings, meaning they seem able to control who fertilises their eggs.
4. Post-menopausal orcas are crucial to their sons’ survival. Her death increases the odds of any of her sons dying the following year by a far greater amount than if she had died at a younger age.
This books was impeccably researched yet engagingly written. If you are interested in animal behaviour and/or in seeing how a lack of diversity among scientists impacts our scientific knowledge this is definitely a book you should read.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexism
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