Captivating, revisionist and incisively argued, Cooke’s thrilling book dismantles outdated binary expectations about sexual identity and sexuality in animals by exploring the behaviours of females in various species.
What does it mean to be female? Mother, carer, the weaker sex? Think again.
In the last few decades a revolution has been brewing in zoology and evolutionary biology. Lucy Cooke introduces us to a riotous cast of animals, and the scientists studying them, that are redefining the female of the species.
Meet the female lemurs of Madagascar, our ancient primate cousins that dominate the males of their species physically and politically. Or female albatross couples, hooking up together to raise their chicks in Hawaii. Or the meerkat mothers of the Kalahari Desert - the most murderous mammals on the planet. The bitches in Bitch overturn outdated binary expectations of bodies, brains, biology and behaviour. Lucy Cooke's brilliant new book will change how you think - about sex, sexual identity and sexuality in animals and also the very forces that shape evolution.
Publisher: Transworld Publishers Ltd
ISBN: 9781804990919
Number of pages: 400
Weight: 276 g
Dimensions: 197 x 127 x 25 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
Lucy Cooke's Bitch shows just how far we have come in seeing nature's females for what they actually are.' - Simon Ing, Telegraph
Surprising sex lives of the animal kingdom: From bondage-loving spiders to 'Scrooge-like' lobsters who save their sperm for a female who's 'worth it', BITCH lifts the lid on kinky creatures - Claire Toureille, Daily Mail
Best books of 2022 so far: Zoologist Lucy Cooke's hilarious and enlightening book reclaims evolutionary biology for females of all species. - New Statesman
Mr Darwin, your time is up...This is the evolutionary reboot us bitches have been waiting for. - Sue Perkins
Brilliant ... Cooke is a superb science writer - Carol Tavris, TLS
