When I saw that Lucy Cooke had a new book out, I was very eager to listen to it. I loved listening to her previous book The Unexpected Truth About Animals which was as informative as it was humorous.
Since Darwin's famous The Origin of Species (published back in 1859), people have bought into his idea that the females of species are the 'weaker sex' - passive, monogamous and maternal all while deferring to the manly males of their species. Clearly, they've never met a female meerkat or female octopus!
With wit and science, Lucy Cooke is here to prove that these patriarchal biases and plain misinformation in the study of animals is untrue. Well-researched with laugh-out-loud moments, this book brings readers into the fierce females of the natural world and also reveals how the assumed binary gender/sexual roles of the animal kingdom are a misconception.
The book is filled with cool animal/evolutionary tidbits and anecdotes with a humorous vibe that gives this book a lighter feel. I will never think about a naked mole rat (as one does) in the same way again. That said, it took me awhile to listen to this audiobook because I often found the technical parts were a bit dry and overwhelming for this non-sciencey reader. Perhaps reading the physical book may have been a better option for me.
Overall, this is an empowering, thought-provoking read about how diverse, amazing and essential the females of species truly are. With humour and her love of science, Cooke teaches her readers about the ongoing misinformation and patriarchal slant science has given females of various species and how we must dispense with the many myths we've taken as truths.
My sincere thanks to the publisher for providing me with a complimentary digital audiobook of this title given in exchange for my honest review.
My Rating: 3.5 stars
Author: Lucy Cooke
Genre: Nonfiction, Animals
Type and Source: eAudio from NetGalley
Narrator: Lucy Cooke
Run Time: 11 hours, 54 min
Publisher: Basic Books
First Published: March 3, 2022
Book Description from GoodReads:
A fierce, funny, and revolutionary look at the queens of the animal kingdom
Studying zoology made Lucy Cooke feel like a sad freak. Not because she loved spiders or would root around in animal feces: all her friends shared the same curious kinks. The problem was her sex. Being female meant she was, by nature, a loser.
Since Charles Darwin, evolutionary biologists have been convinced that the males of the animal kingdom are the interesting ones—dominating and promiscuous, while females are dull, passive, and devoted.
In Bitch, Cooke tells a new story. Whether investigating same-sex female albatross couples that raise chicks, murderous mother meerkats, or the titanic battle of the sexes waged by ducks, Cooke shows us a new evolutionary biology, one where females can be as dynamic as any male. This isn‘t your grandfather’s evolutionary biology. It’s more inclusive, truer to life, and, simply, more fun.
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