Eve: a new book about female evolutionary biology

Saved it, well done. They're clearly not vetting the comments.

I posted a comment on the article - any bets that it gets taken down shortly? The only existing comment thanked the Graun for the review. Mine said: "“It’s clear that trans women are women”. Not at all clear to me or many other biological women if by "essentialism" she means biological reality. She refers to graves - isn't it essentialist that skeletal remains are pretty clear about the sex to which the body belonged? Gender presentation is a matter of choice. Sex isn't. Men can't 'evolve' to become women - it requires surgery and lifelong medication to present even a simulacrum."

I'm with you OP about not being able to stand the stupidity. It's more than disappointing. It's a betrayal.

I downloaded the kindle sample of a book called Hagitiude by Sharon Blackie. I've heard her speak on a couple of podcasts and she sounds a wise and sensible sort, who has made a career about writing about women. Hagitude is about understanding the menopause as the gateway to the next phase of life, and finding positive, empowering role models for older women in mythology and folk tales and using them as a springboard for discovering new perspectives on women in older age. I started to read and thought it was so up my street I'd skip the sample and go straight to buy the book, when I came across the sentence 'all those who identify as women - these old folk tales are not in the business of excluding' in the introduction.

Way to undermine your whole argument, right there. No thanks.

I just had a look at the review in the Observer/Guardian website and.....just sayin'....comments seem to be open....

So TWAW but

‘A modern woman’s brain is not constructed from genetic instructions alone, untouched by the world in which she lives: “It takes a whole girlhood in a sexist environment to build a brain like that.” ‘

I watched two people with PhDs in biological sciences justify calling somebody transphobic for stating there are only two sexes. They cited DSDs as evidence that there are more than two sexes.

Obviously none of them explained how Disorders of normal sexual development account for XX people identifying as XY people but hey.

Not the only people in the biological sciences I've watched deny biological reality. (I work in STEM, I know a lot of biologists).

"This is how the dinosaurs evolved, and other species from that, however it's clear that the world was created by God a few thousand years ago."

But the BBC tells the truth on everything according to most people.

You can't take anyone's opinion as truth, you have to drill down into a subject and also read opposing views, no matter how forboeden. It's a lot of work to actually have an informed view on anything.

Just shows that you can't frigging trust the opinions of anyone. People can have phds up the wazoo and can and do talk shite.

Are you denying the existence of pansexual non binary greenfly? Sorry PP, it's so hard when supposedly bright people have let their thinking go so wonky.

With people like this, I always try to get them to define their terms of reference and definitions, instead of talking over each other over our mutually exclusive versions of 'woman' or 'trans'.

That's how I realised my partner didn't really mean that cross-dressers should be treated exactly the same as women. Cos he missed the Stonewall memo that trans means anything you want it to.

There is a an extensive look inside on the US Amazon which gives you a flavour of Bohannon's approach (just in case you thought it might be the reviewer's take): https://read.amazon.com/sample/B0BR51FB12?f=2&l=enUS&r=f5eb8306&rid=TJ9K4MJZWGDNMPA97ZM3&sid=138-7598272-2456855&ref_=litb_m

It's a real disappointment when this happens. I was recently schooled by a person with an honor degree in entomology on the flawless logic of the trans debate. I cannot understand how anyone who understands the world of natural science can so easily sacrifice their thinking. I mean, what do you say to such obvious crap? Once she started shouting, I repeated I don't agree and left to pack the dishwasher. We were at a big gathering and I needed a ride home with her haha. And besides, there's no arguing a belief with reason. It's the very nature of belief

That's such a shame. It sounded really interesting until then.

I read that too. It started off so promising and then went down that bizarre route.
It's like someone writing an amazing science-based book about the origin of stars and the universe and then plopping in an assertion that of course our fates are governed by star signs.
Except instead of star signs, it's a belief in gender stereotyping being innate. So weird.

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