Bitch

On the Female of the Species

De: Lucy Cooke

Narrado por: Lucy Cooke

A zoologist’s “compelling and often hilarious” (Science) look at the queens of the animal kingdom

Somewhere in the ocean, an orca matriarch leads her pod to better hunting grounds. At the same time, a male clownfish, alone after the death of his mate, changes sex. All the while, humans battle over sex and gender: One side argues evolutionary biology dictates how we should be, and the other that it’s a patriarchal tool and shouldn’t matter at all.

In Bitch, zoologist Lucy Cooke rewrites the science of evolution and sex, showing how a band of pioneering, feminist biologists have uncovered the dizzying diversity created by evolution. In their work, Cooke finds a new understanding of what being female can mean and how evolution itself can work.

Never before in history has being female been so scrutinized. Rising to meet the moment, Bitch is a fierce, funny, and revolutionary scientific manifesto with a new perspective on the female animal that is much more inclusive, true to life, and fun.

Reseñas de la Crítica

“Lucy Cooke blows two centuries of sexist myths right out of biology. Prepare to learn a lot — and laugh out loud. A beautifully written, very funny and deeply important book.”
—Alice Roberts, author of Evolution

“Fun, informative and revolutionary all at once, Bitch should be required reading in school. After reading this book one will never look at an orca, an albatross, or a human the same way again. And the world will be better for it.”
—Agustin Fuentes, professor of anthropology at Princeton University and author of The Creative Spark

Fascinating

I learned a lot and this book gave me much to think about, also enjoyed the narration by the author. Highly recommend to anyone at all interested in animals.

Far beyond what I was expecting

A fascinating exploration into gender in general, not just females of the species. Helps me better understand contemporary sex and gender discussions via the biological and evolutionary perspective provided here. And reinforces how humans are, simply, animals. I don’t think this needed to be as long as it was. All of the examples are interesting but the book could have used tighter editing.

Provocative, well written, and salacious!!!

A phenomenal book that is well organized into clear themes. As scientists we have to write subdued ‘unbiased’ papers. Cooke blasts away at this puritan notion by using colorful language without any unscientific overstatements. As a non-binary scientist in microbial ecology research I found it very fun and refreshing to have all of this research summarized in one place. Hopefully she can write another book with similar tone on the origins of sex to include some non-animal examples that also shatter the ideas around culturally derived gender and sex roles. This may have been the most fun science book I have ever listened to!

Absolutely Incredible

A fantastic first into the biological truth of the spectrum of gender and the biological fallacies of Victorian ideals that have lead our collective scientific biases for the last 200 years. This is a must read!

Sooo entertaining - sooo important

Just. Wow. This is one of those rare, life-changing books that all should read or listen to. It gently and humorously holds a magnifying glass to the natural world all around us. It kindly and clearly disabuses us of our fraught and limited world views - all while simply telling a series of animal biographies. If you believe in God, your faith will be enlarged and filled again with wonder. If you don’t or aren’t sure, your world view will be layered with glorious detail, and an deeper appreciation for your home planet.