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lilacwhisker's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
4.5
De Waal is one of the best nature-writers I know... this book is great for everyone, no matter how much knowledge you have on animal cognition, behavior, sex, etc. etc.
deepkiwireader's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
5.0
joyceontheroad's review against another edition
4.0
Interessante analyse die de lezer de mogelijkheid geeft om zelf na te denken. Aan de hand van wetenschap en voorbeelden uit de natuur wordt een beeld geschetst waarin de gender vanuit een wetenschappelijk perspectief geaccepteerd is.
margardenlady's review against another edition
funny
informative
slow-paced
4.0
Lots of primate sex... maybe more than I cared about, but de Waal makes clear comparisons among various primate groups behaviors. Primarily using chimpanzees, bonobos and humans as the primate trifecta, we hear about lots of research documenting social, gender and sexual behaviors. Unsurprisingly, humans are not so different from the other two.
lindsirae's review against another edition
4.0
This was such a fun read! In addition to a plethora of aww-inducing animal anecdotes, it was genuinely thought-provoking. As someone who considers myself a gender abolitionist, I was confronted with a lot of evidence that challenged the viability of such a worldview. As de Waal says throughout the book, people do not have to be the same to be treated equally, and it is the way in which we organize our economies that oppresses women, not the fact that women exist.
As a Marxist, when analyzing capitalist society I consider gender in the same way I consider race: a technology devised in order to use physical markers to determine a person’s appropriate relationship to capital. However, this work reminded me that there are aspects to gender that precede and supersede capitalism and large-scale socioeconomic organization in general — and so hopefully one day, when our society is no longer built upon exploitation, gender will simply become a value-neutral attribute rather than a pretense for such exploitation.
I especially enjoyed the final chapter, “The Trouble with Dualism: Mind, Brain, and Body Are One.” It dovetailed perfectly with my recent reading of [b:The Myth of Normal|58537332|The Myth of Normal Trauma, Illness, and Healing in a Toxic Culture|Gabor Maté|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1647801716l/58537332._SY75_.jpg|90801983] and even some themes from [b:Caliban and the Witch|403846|Caliban and the Witch Women, the Body and Primitive Accumulation|Silvia Federici|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1344937010l/403846._SX50_.jpg|393224], such as the Enlightenment’s attempt to separate the masculine body and mind coinciding with the degradation of the feminine body and suppression of the feminine mind. I’m really looking forward to discussing these things with my Caliban reading group!
As a Marxist, when analyzing capitalist society I consider gender in the same way I consider race: a technology devised in order to use physical markers to determine a person’s appropriate relationship to capital. However, this work reminded me that there are aspects to gender that precede and supersede capitalism and large-scale socioeconomic organization in general — and so hopefully one day, when our society is no longer built upon exploitation, gender will simply become a value-neutral attribute rather than a pretense for such exploitation.
I especially enjoyed the final chapter, “The Trouble with Dualism: Mind, Brain, and Body Are One.” It dovetailed perfectly with my recent reading of [b:The Myth of Normal|58537332|The Myth of Normal Trauma, Illness, and Healing in a Toxic Culture|Gabor Maté|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1647801716l/58537332._SY75_.jpg|90801983] and even some themes from [b:Caliban and the Witch|403846|Caliban and the Witch Women, the Body and Primitive Accumulation|Silvia Federici|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1344937010l/403846._SX50_.jpg|393224], such as the Enlightenment’s attempt to separate the masculine body and mind coinciding with the degradation of the feminine body and suppression of the feminine mind. I’m really looking forward to discussing these things with my Caliban reading group!