Woman: An Intimate Geography | 
|  | | | Title: | Woman: An Intimate Geography | | Author: | Natalie Angier | | Publisher: | Anchor | | Type: | Book / Paperback | | Publication Date: | 15 February, 2000 | | ISBN / ISBN-13: | 0385498411 / 9780385498418 | | List Price: | $15.95 | | You Save: | $5.10 | | Amazon Price: | $10.85 | |
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| Editorial Review / Publisher's Information:
Product Description
With the clarity, insight, and sheer exuberance of language that make her one of The New York Times's premier stylists, Pulitzer Prize-winner Natalie Angier lifts the veil of secrecy from that most enigmatic of evolutionary masterpieces, the female body. Angier takes readers on a mesmerizing tour of female anatomy and physiology that explores everything from organs to orgasm, and delves into topics such as exercise, menopause, and the mysterious properties of breast milk.
A self-proclaimed "scientific fantasia of womanhood." Woman ultimately challenges widely accepted Darwinian-based gender stereotypes. Angier shows how cultural biases have influenced research in evolutionary psychology (the study of the biological bases of behavior) and consequently lead to dubious conclusions about "female nature." such as the idea that women are innately monogamous while men are natural philanderers.
But Angier doesn't just point fingers; she offers optimistic alternatives and transcends feminist polemics with an enlightened subversiveness that makes for a joyful, fresh vision of womanhood. Woman is a seminal work that will endure as an essential read for anyone intersted in how biology affects who we are?as women, as men, and as human beings.
Amazon.com Review
Despite scientific evidence to the contrary, as far as the health care profession is concerned the standard operating design of the human body is male. So when a book comes along as beautifully written and endlessly informative as Natalie Angier's Woman: An Intimate Geography, it's a cause for major celebration. Written with whimsy and eloquence, her investigation into female physiology draws its inspiration not only from scientific and medical sources but also from mythology, history, art, and literature, layering biological factoids with her own personal encounters and arcane anecdotes from the history of science. Who knew, for example, that the clitoris--with 8,000 nerve fibers--packs double the pleasure of the penis; that the gene controlling cellular sensitivity to male androgens, ironically enough, resides on the X-chromosome; or that stress hormones like cortisol and corticosterone are the true precursors of friendship? The mysteries of evolution are not a new subject for Angier, a Pulitzer Prize-winning biology writer for the New York Times whose previous books include The Beauty of the Beastly and Natural Obsessions. The strengths of Woman begin with Angier's witty and evocative prose style, but its real contribution is the way it expands the definition of female "geography" beyond womb, breasts, and estrogen, down as far as the bimolecular substructure of DNA and up as high as the transcendent infrastructure of the human brain. --Patrizia DiLucchio
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Customer Reviews:
• Very Informative And Feminist! 19 January, 2007
After looking for books about female biology and wanting something that did not place women in gendered roles according to their supposed biological nature, I came upon this one.
The author makes several invaluble arguments to counter the 'biology is who we are' theory. I'm a young university student and reading this was indespensable, and informative. All authors who write about women need to be feminists. Recommended for young women, particularly as an informed intelligent book about our body as well as armor for what society may be pushing down your throat.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A1OR15N4PTTOO7
• Interesting, But... 29 December, 2007
I liked the concept very much, but it just went on far too long. Basically, it's physiology, psychology, and the author's view on women.
- Reviewed by customer ID: ATVKLGKBKCBDC
• One Of My Favorites! 02 May, 2007
I just love this book. It gives insight into the possible connections in our lives. Why is painful labor beneficial? Why do we have menopause and other animals do not?... I could go on and on. It provides great insight and a sense of womanly pride. I love science-based books that are not a bore. This is entertaining and I have a new perspective and appreciation for many things that make me a woman!
- Reviewed by customer ID: A2I6GWB8QQFK11
• Woman: An Amazing Book!! 29 February, 2008
This book is fantastic. Natalie Angier writes poetically and creatively, and she seems to know a little bit about everything! It's fascinating how she weaves things like evolutionary biology, history, and personal interviews with women into a cohesive story about the female body. It's truly entertaining and educational to read, and has even helped me review for a class that covers reproductive biology!
- Reviewed by customer ID: A2EZQ49YWV2G02
• Fascinating!!! 06 July, 2008
the book is filled to the brim with exciting descriptions of biology/humanity/women/etc. angier writes with a concise and poetic style, begging you to continue reading
she does a phenomenal job dispelling various caricatures and stereotypes of femininity, drawing on a wide range of cultural and biological sources. i can't vouch for the reliability of angier's translations of scientific studies, but i greatly enjoyed them and she was comprehensive enough i suspect her main points hold up even if a few of the (many!) studies are not current/represented-accurately/etc
as a fellow child of christian scientists (and unfortunately, like natalie, having a needlessly and prematurely dead father), i greatly appreciate her fresh-eyed look at the fields of medicine and biology.. a rare and exciting perspective, imo
otherwise/overall i found the work most compelling for its insight into humanity and biology at large, and while its woman-centricity makes a good catalyst for this discussion, i found it regressive at times
on page 374, angier quotes patricia gowaty ->
"all of these strategies and counterstrategies are going on in real time, so that we have responses associated with learning and experience rather than as a result of coded genetic modules.. the ecological problems that one sex has to solve are produced by the other sex. nothing is fixed. until we incorporate that notion, of the dynamic and dialectic pressures underlying human mating systems, we'll never get to the real meat of human behavior, and we'll continue repeating the extreme, and extremely boring, parodies"
wow!! but rather than employ this dialectic perspective, angier simply states it (at the end). she does an astounding job of connecting a huge number of exciting topics - nominally a discussion of womanhood, and effectively one of humanity - but she digs her heels in for the sexual tug-o-war, most noticeably by floating casual/negative/frequent male stereotypes. a particular zinger (p251) reads ->
"men do not live as long as women do, after all, and the disparity in lifespan applies globally. maybe they don't have to live as long. or maybe they don't want to. maybe they get tired of losing their hair, and of the political pomp of the hunt, and of making bad jokes about their mothers-in-law"
try substituting "men" and "women" along with your most despised of the tired-female-stereotypes, and it's a career finisher (in some circles)
gowaty's transcendent approach would make a significantly more powerful/shattering/foundational work (imo). but, it's still a great (5 star!) read - and i highly recommend it to anyone who's intrigued
- Reviewed by customer ID: A3O5UC0USMEUTR
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