Sex, Time, and Power: How Women's Sexuality Shaped Human Evolution

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It's a hit!

Shlain was a neuroseurgeon that married an active feminist. He found himself fascinated by the idea of gender roles and equality and applies some ... (show more)

Shlain was a neuroseurgeon that married an active feminist. He found himself fascinated by the idea of gender roles and equality and applies some pretty surprising suppositions and theories to come up with this great book. He's a little far reaching sometimes but generally for the better. (show less)

 

 

by Shawna Jiannoni

No, it's a flop!

Well researched, well intentioned, and very original, Shalin's Sex, Time and Power is an interesting*opinion* based book. Although, Shalin's ideas ... (show more)

Well researched, well intentioned, and very original, Shalin's Sex, Time and Power is an interesting*opinion* based book. Although, Shalin's ideas are somewhat credible, ultimately, they are very speculative and rely on pathetic/romantic stereotypes about gender. (show less)

 

 

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  Another theorist taking a stab at the, "How did we get here as a species," question. He makes an interesting, though ultimately unsuccessful, argument that all the meaningful adaptations that make humans human stem from the way women's bodies are built. (Similar "one ring to rule them all" single explaination-type theories are all around, including: spoken language, our omnivorous digestive track, complex social grouping, and cooking our food.)

  In support of his argumen... (show more)

  Another theorist taking a stab at the, "How did we get here as a species," question. He makes an interesting, though ultimately unsuccessful, argument that all the meaningful adaptations that make humans human stem from the way women's bodies are built. (Similar "one ring to rule them all" single explaination-type theories are all around, including: spoken language, our omnivorous digestive track, complex social grouping, and cooking our food.)

  In support of his argument, he makes an interesting catalog of all the ways human females differ from those of other species. The biggest difference, and the cornerstone of his argument, is the fact that childbirth can be lethal, a problem that is virtually non existent in other animals. Other differences include: the fact that women give no indication when they are ovulating, they lose more iron (through blood loss and "other" routes) than any other mammal, body fat above the muscle tissue instead of under, extended life after menopause, and of course female orgasm.

  Schlain falls into a few traps along the way, most notable is his Aristotelian hindsight bias where he looks at every trait and asks, "What purpose does this serve." Assuming that traits arise to serve a purpose instead of simply being a characteristic that was not so detrimental that it prevented the next generation from being born. I prefer the more reliable lens of, "it is the way it is because if it were not, then it would not be the way it is."

  Schlain's book reads a little like a very long love letter to the opposite sex. Perhaps there was a cute biologist somewhere with whom he hoped to pass on his genetic material.... (show less)

   

   

  by Charles Floading on Sep 16, 2009 at 05:11AM

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  A possible trend of doctors attempting to understand environmental conditions as part of human health seems like a good thing. Was led to this book by notice of podcast on a social network so some public discussion is resulting. If one reviews the table of contents in reverse order, can perhaps see how writer reached focus and flow. Final chapter recognizes that a white male author’s explanation of female evolution may seem historically questionable, however it is probably advantageous to hav... (show more)

  A possible trend of doctors attempting to understand environmental conditions as part of human health seems like a good thing. Was led to this book by notice of podcast on a social network so some public discussion is resulting. If one reviews the table of contents in reverse order, can perhaps see how writer reached focus and flow. Final chapter recognizes that a white male author’s explanation of female evolution may seem historically questionable, however it is probably advantageous to have another thoughtful ‘head in the game’. Questions in the five parts include topics such as the reasons for misogyny and patriarchy, social rituals, taboos, sexual orientation and gender differences. Cultures have offered death for 150 millenia, art for 40, and technology for a century. “Gyna sapiens” has been tuned to the moon throughout. It took insight to deduce the 9 months to childbirth, maternal free will, paternity, property, legacy and longevity. Remedies for iron deficiency contributed to the latter. There are still many natural paradoxes, e.g. peak for women being late 30’s while males are late teens, but the epilogue offers a foresight that science is capable of changing the rules. Thanks. (show less)

   

   

  by John Rodrigues on Jun 28, 2009 at 03:54AM

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