Scan barcode
A review by samdalefox
Bitch: A Revolutionary Guide to Sex, Evolution and the Female Animal by Lucy Cooke
challenging
funny
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
After I finished reading 'Bitch' I watched an episode of Wild Isles, narrated by David Attenborough. The difference was astonishing. Although the information given in the documentary was correct, it wasn't the whole story. Now knowing what I do from this book, I was shocked at the documentary, because the omission of female-related information rendered the episode incomplete, two dimensional, and potentially misleading.
Cooke has provided an essential compendium of the history of predjudice, sexism, western elitism, and biases within the history of evolutionary biology, explains why this has resulted in neo-darwinism thus the misinterpretation/misunderstanding within science, AND she included STUPENDOUS, APPLAUDABLE, and BEAUTIFUL examples across the diverse animal kingdom that illustrate every single point she makes, referencing the 20th and 21st century scientists' work who is debunking false claims and providing new fascinating insights. I adore a superbly referenced book. I cannot stress how important these kind of books are to scientists such as myself and the general public. Cooke has achieved the same level of integrity in evolutional biology as Angela Saini in eugenics (Superior: The Return of Race Science, 2019). This book should be mandatory reading for all human and animal biology-related roles in my opinion.
It's impossible for me to summarise all of the myths around the female sex debunked in the book. I learnt the complexities, nuances, and recent advancements within so many ways of understanding female sex. Cooke evidences the patriachial heteronormative straightjacket of the current state of science, and evidences the scientific discoveries and advancements that are being sidelined. In summary, sex is much more complicated than the men writing the textbooks would like you to believe. I highly encourage you to read the book. I've listed a few of the concepts and phenomenons below so you can get a taste of the depth and breadth covered. Examples are given across the animal kingdom, it is not mammal-centric. Cooke is careful to never blindly anthropomorphise or extrapolate or apply research on other animals to humans. However some findings do ring a bell of recognition in the human experience which prompts you to wonder about our own limited views of our own expression of sex, gender, and sexuality. Cooke encourages us to do some self examinaion, critically analyse existing data, and advocates for the necessity of more female-focused research. We need diversity of the science being produced and diversity in the people producing the science, these will help flush out biases of all kinds.
Some topics covered: the organisational concept, sex chromosomes, plasticity is sexual expression, variation in sexual characteristics, the importance and primacy of oestrogen, anisogamy, behavioural ecology, monogamy, polyandry, paternal confusion, sexual cannibalism, capacitation, oxytocin, Post partum depression infanticide, communal parenting, social selection vs sexual selection, menopause, eusociality, co-operative breeding (totalistarianism), bonobos vs chimps as models relevant to humans, prolactin, dominance hierachies, the grandmother hypothesis, ecospecies, paralimbic cortex, super-normal clutches, parthenogenesis, developmental plasticity, anenome fish feminisation (MTF sex transition), the normality of bisexuality, the oversimplicity of hermaphrodite and intersex, the relationship of biological sex, culture and politics and how biological truth is cruicual to work together to protect our planet and all that live on it.
Quotes:
Cooke has provided an essential compendium of the history of predjudice, sexism, western elitism, and biases within the history of evolutionary biology, explains why this has resulted in neo-darwinism thus the misinterpretation/misunderstanding within science, AND she included STUPENDOUS, APPLAUDABLE, and BEAUTIFUL examples across the diverse animal kingdom that illustrate every single point she makes, referencing the 20th and 21st century scientists' work who is debunking false claims and providing new fascinating insights. I adore a superbly referenced book. I cannot stress how important these kind of books are to scientists such as myself and the general public. Cooke has achieved the same level of integrity in evolutional biology as Angela Saini in eugenics (Superior: The Return of Race Science, 2019). This book should be mandatory reading for all human and animal biology-related roles in my opinion.
It's impossible for me to summarise all of the myths around the female sex debunked in the book. I learnt the complexities, nuances, and recent advancements within so many ways of understanding female sex. Cooke evidences the patriachial heteronormative straightjacket of the current state of science, and evidences the scientific discoveries and advancements that are being sidelined. In summary, sex is much more complicated than the men writing the textbooks would like you to believe. I highly encourage you to read the book. I've listed a few of the concepts and phenomenons below so you can get a taste of the depth and breadth covered. Examples are given across the animal kingdom, it is not mammal-centric. Cooke is careful to never blindly anthropomorphise or extrapolate or apply research on other animals to humans. However some findings do ring a bell of recognition in the human experience which prompts you to wonder about our own limited views of our own expression of sex, gender, and sexuality. Cooke encourages us to do some self examinaion, critically analyse existing data, and advocates for the necessity of more female-focused research. We need diversity of the science being produced and diversity in the people producing the science, these will help flush out biases of all kinds.
Some topics covered: the organisational concept, sex chromosomes, plasticity is sexual expression, variation in sexual characteristics, the importance and primacy of oestrogen, anisogamy, behavioural ecology, monogamy, polyandry, paternal confusion, sexual cannibalism, capacitation, oxytocin, Post partum depression infanticide, communal parenting, social selection vs sexual selection, menopause, eusociality, co-operative breeding (totalistarianism), bonobos vs chimps as models relevant to humans, prolactin, dominance hierachies, the grandmother hypothesis, ecospecies, paralimbic cortex, super-normal clutches, parthenogenesis, developmental plasticity, anenome fish feminisation (MTF sex transition), the normality of bisexuality, the oversimplicity of hermaphrodite and intersex, the relationship of biological sex, culture and politics and how biological truth is cruicual to work together to protect our planet and all that live on it.
Quotes:
"There's no such thing as a male hormone or a female hormone. It's a common misconception. We all have the same hormones, Christine drey revealed to me over Skype. All that differs between males and females are the relative amounts of enzymes that convert the sex steroids from one to another, and distribution and sensitivity, of hormone receptors."
"According to crusie, there are five types of sex: chromosomal, gonadal, hormonal, morphological, and behavioural. They don't necessarily all agree with each other or stay fixed for life. They are cumalative and emergent in nature. They can be influenced by genes or hormones, the environment or even an animals life experience"
"These females teach us that sex is no crystal ball it is neither static nor deterministic but a dynamic and flexible trait just like any other, that's shaped by the peculiar interaction of shared genes with the environment, further scultored by an animals developmental and social life histories plus a sprinkling of chance."
"Rather than thinking of the sexes as wholly different biological entities , we should consider them members of the same species with fluid complementary differences in certain biological and physiological processes associated with reproduction , but otherwise much the same."
"The time has come to ditch damaging and frankly deluded binary expectations because in nature, the female experience exists on a genderless continuum. It is variable, highly plastic, and refuses to conform to archaic classifications. Our appreciation of this fact can only enrich our understanding of the natiral world and empathy for one another as humans. Maintainig a dogged belief in antiquated sex differeunces only serves to fuel unrealistic expectations of women and men , foster poor intersexual relations, and promote sexual inequality."