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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

Eve. How female bodies drive evolution

4 replies

TaytoCheeseandOnion · 30/09/2023 10:16

Article on what sounds like an interesting book. Just a bit worried about the author. I think the splinters from her fence sitting have got all the way to her brain. Don't know how you can write a tome like this, and not point out that males cannot be females.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/books/2023/sep/30/how-women-drove-evolution-cat-bohannon-on-her-radical-new-history-of-humanity

How women drove evolution: Cat Bohannon on her radical new history of humanity

The American academic and author is revolutionising our understanding of the human body with her female-centric history of the species. She discusses the myth-busting book that took 10 years to write

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/books/2023/sep/30/how-women-drove-evolution-cat-bohannon-on-her-radical-new-history-of-humanity

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HagoftheNorth · 30/09/2023 15:29

Hahaha, understanding almost every scientific issue I encounter starts with understanding the boundaries and definitions. Precise language is a very important part of any meaningful analysis. I can understand her not wanting to get cancelled though, and the book looks great. What is clear though is the demonstration, once again, that being female is a very physical experience, and the difference between that and maleness isn’t just expressed in breasts and genitalia, despite that being the focus of trans surgery

kinfauns · 30/09/2023 11:32

Agree it sounded like a prepared response to the inevitable question. But the line: “People who work in sciences are not in the business of definition” is bonkers - I thought that is precisely what scientists do! Having spent the entire article discussing female egg production, there is no way she doesn’t know what a woman is! My guess is that she is petrified of being cancelled and who can blame her?!

teawamutu · 30/09/2023 10:49

I did a little eyeroll at the fence sit, too - but these days, if someone isn't immediately wanging on about queer identities and even back in caveperson days the people identifying as women blah di blah, I assume they're probably terfy but just don't want to say so. I will give the book a try on that basis because it sounds fascinating.

Pudmyboy · 30/09/2023 10:45

I was glad to see Invisible Women highlighted in a Guardian article, in a positive light as well! The trans bit seemed to me to be in response to a question rather than something spontaneous. Overall sounds like a very interesting book, thanks for highlighting it@TaytoCheeseandOnion