Sex Differentiation Books

The Descent of Man (Great Minds Series)

Charles Darwin

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 24 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Freed our minds for relativity 2 out of 5 stars.
8 of 113 people found this review helpful.

Just as "Origin of Species is misunderstood, I believe "Descent" to be also, although the latter is a more entertaining read. "Descent" fails to concentrate on man without deviating. It is a book of observations and study. It concentrates on how animal life, has, by sexual selection, brought forth the variety in the species we see today, through millions of years. Darwin covered his beloved pigeons in depth in "Origins" and continues at length on many other bird species in "Descent". I agree with him that all the different types of birds we see today probably came from one ancestor of the pigeon. This is called variation of kind. We see this in just about every living creature and flora. The problem arises when the next step is taken, the rise of one species turning into another (reptile to bird). Throughout the book Darwin does admit to this fact, but he still maintains that it must be, with much difficulty. He does hint to nature having some "power of thought", where does this come from? How does nature make these choices? Why did Darwin focus so on the black tribes: their practices, looks, sexuality, if he did not believe them a lower race? Of course he only hints at this, and his belief of evolving from apes is scant, but obvious. Does not the use of race to distinguish only separate? His theory on idiots as somehow lower is also disturbing. And what of the rudimentary parts and vestigial organs. As we progress in our scientific study we understand more on their uses, and there may be much we will never understand. In the end he gives a poor argument, and a convoluted book.

There is no doubt there is a tremendous amount of work that went into his book. It is a difficult and painful read, although there are many interesting and detailed observations. One does need to know his enemy. Darwin is not the originator of "evolution." There are many who came before him, since the dawn of time. He was influenced by numerous men of his time, some being more radical. Darwin was nothing new, he just maid it "hip." What he started has turned into the secular humanism the world has adopted. I don't think he meant for this disease to spread like it has. From his writings I understand him as an agnostic, but doubtful. I believed he struggled with the possibly of a deist. It is safe to say it was his only ambition till his dying day to prove "evolution" as proof of our existence. What of the missing fossil record?, he new they would be found. He was a confusing man.

150 years later and there still has been no intermediate fossils found to prove the case. In fact we are discovering more that validates creation.

Why don't we see a scale or a feather erupt occasionally on man? Is it because it is not in our DNA, and never was?

The theory of evolution caused Darwin to loose his faith and his experience has been repeated in countless lives. Evolution is an acid that eats away at the mind, a cancer.

One only needs to open the pages to Michael Behe's book, "Darwin's Black Box", to understand the futility of the evolutionary theory. The engines of life at the molecular level are so complex that there leaves no other possibility than a creator of the universe. There should be no excuse.

Editorial Review:

In The Descent of Man, Charles Darwin (1809-1882) focuses special attention on the origin and history of our own species, a subject he had avoided in previous writings on evolution. He claims that the human animal is closest in ancestry to the two African pongids or anthropoid apes (chimpanzees and gorillas). Further, Darwin held that our species and these two pongids differ merely in degree rather than in kind -- a controversial view that contradicted religious doctrine. The Descent of Man (1871) looks at the emergence of humans in terms of primate evolution. Darwin presents a strictly mechanistic and materialistic interpretation of our species that is free from superstition and spiritualism.

Sexing the Body: Gender Politics and the Construction of Sexuality

Anne Fausto-Sterling

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Total reviews: 15 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Understanding Gender Through A New Lens 5 out of 5 stars.
8 of 8 people found this review helpful.

Anne Fausto-Sterling's account of all genders and sexes (not just male/female, but everything in between) provides a humanitarian outlook which demonstrates just how far our culture will go to enforce gender dichotomies. About one in 5000 births results in an intersexed (ambiguous genitalia) infant. Most of the time doctors assign a sex to these babies, believing they could never grow into well-adjusted adults with ambigious sex organs. Yet, these surgeries usually include the removal of some or all nerve tissue leading most post operative intersexed people wishing they had never been touched when they grow older. Some of these stories are truly heart breaking and Fausto-Sterling not only explores the history behind these surgeries, but their impact on the day to day lives of thousands of individuals. Giving voice to a group that's not heard from much in mainstream media, Sexing the Body is a must read for anyone interested in the development of gender identity or social injustice.

Editorial Review:

Why do some people prefer heterosexual love while others fancy the same sex? Is sexual identity biologically determined or a product of convention? In this brilliant and provocative book, the acclaimed author of Myths of Gender argues that even the most fundamental knowledge about sex is shaped by the culture in which scientific knowledge is produced.Drawing on astonishing real-life cases and a probing analysis of centuries of scientific research, Fausto-Sterling demonstrates how scientists have historically politicized the body. In lively and impassioned prose, she breaks down three key dualisms - sex/gender, nature/nurture, and real/constructed - and asserts that individuals born as mixtures of male and female exist as one of five natural human variants and, as such, should not be forced to compromise their differences to fit a flawed societal definition of normality.

Digit Ratio: A Pointer to Fertility, Behavior, and Health (A volume in the Rutgers Series in Human Evolution, edited by Robert Trivers.)

John T. Manning

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Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Could the length of your fingers predict a predisposition to breast cancer? Or musical genius? Or homosexuality? The author posits that relative lengths of the second and fourth digits in humans (2D:4D ratio) provides a window into fertility- and sex-related traits. It has been known for more than a century that men and women tend to differ in the relative lengths of their index and ring fingers, which upon casual observation seem fairly symmetrical. Men on average have fourth digits longer than their second digits, while women typically have the opposite. Digit ratios are unique in that they are fixed before birth, while other sexually dimorphic variables are fixed after puberty, and the same genes that control finger length also control the development of the sex organs. The 2D:4D ratio is the only prenatal sexually dimorphic trait that measurably explains conditions linking testosterone, oestrogen and human development, the author argues. The study of the ratio broadens our view of human ability, talent, behaviour, disposition, health and fertility. In this book, Manning presents evidence for how 2D:4D correlates with genetic traits ranging from sperm counts, the likelihood of having male versus female offspring, musical genius, homosexuality and sporting prowess, to autism, depression, heart attacks, or breast cancer, traits that are all linked to sex hormones.

Man & Woman, Boy & Girl: Gender Identity from Conception to Maturity (Master Work Series)

Anke A. Ehrhardt

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 1.0 of 5

apparent fraud 1 out of 5 stars.
7 of 8 people found this review helpful.

The author made a bunch of money touting his claim that there's no genetic basis in gender identity. This book is part of that campaign. His telling case study later turned out to have been an elaborate charade.

Editorial Review:

In Man and Woman, Boy and Girl, John Money and Anke Ehrhardt offer a comprehensive account of sexual differentiation using genetics, embryology, endocrinology and neuro-endocrinology, psychology, and anthropology. Their multidisciplinary approach to gender identity avoids the old arguments over nature versus nurture. Money and Ehrhardt focus instead on the interaction of hereditary endowment and environmental influence. Money and Ehrhardt's work will lead many readers to the conclusion that the differences between man and man, or woman and woman, can be as great as between man and woman.

Evolution of Sex Determining Mechanisms

James J. Bull

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Queering Freedom

Shannon Winnubst

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Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

A Guide to a New View of the Free Self 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

Dr. Winnubst's latest work should prove to be an excellent, eye opening experience for anyone interested in what we mean when we call ourselves "free," or even what we mean when we say "I." Using several eariler philosopher's works about experience and identity, Dr. Winnubst deconstructs the myth of the automonous individual, independent of such fundamental considerations such as race, gender, economic status, and sexual orientation. Further, she argues that the myth of the autonomous self has been established for the sake of those who benefit from social injustice, what Dr. Winnubst calls "phallisized whiteness." She continues by offering how we can proceed while accepting our aspects of race, gender, wealth, and the like as inseparable parts of ourselves.

Dr. Winnubst shows clearly that she has confidence and authority in every field she approaches, from common and classical concepts of freedom to the philosophy of race and gender and psychoanalysis. Anyone who has encountered the philosophers who she cites will see their direct influence in her theories; however, Dr. Winnubst grounds her views as much as possible in original arguments. Nevertheless, anyone unfamiliar with her sources will not be left behind since Dr. Winnubst, showing her teaching experience, provides concise but proficient explainations of her citations. This book seems to welcome anyone willing to invest the time and energy to struggle along with the text, much in Bataillian fashion, to better understand what makes us ourselves.

Editorial Review:

In "Queering Freedom", Shannon Winnubst examines contemporary categories of difference - sexuality, race, gender, class, and nationality - and how they operate within the politics of domination. Drawing on the work of Georges Bataille, Michel Foucault, and others, Winnubst engages feminist theory, race theory, and queer theory as she sheds light on blind spots that have characterized thinking about freedom. Winnubst turns away from the language of rights, identity politics, and liberation toward bodies and experiences to calibrate normative ideas of time and space. Her views operate at the very limits of freedom, which contain individuals within strict boundaries that they are forbidden to cross. Winnubst develops strategies of "queering freedom" to undo the more subtle spatial and temporal norms and shatter structures of domination. This thoughtful and provocative work challenges the cornerstones of contemporary philosophies about the body and its politics.

Gay, Straight, and In-Between: The Sexology of Erotic Orientation

John Money

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Total reviews: 12 Average rating: 2.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

The diverse historical, cultural, and physiological influences that determine sexual orientation are the focus of this fascinating work by one of the foremost investigators of human sexuality. Drawing on case studies from his sexology clinic, the author explores such topics as prenatal and postnatal history, gender differentiation in childhood, and postpubertal hormonal theories. In so doing, he addresses the many enigmas of sexual orientation: What makes some children grow up to be homosexual, while others become heterosexual or bisexual? To what degree is gender identity determined before birth? How do the concepts of masculine and feminine become differentiated during childhood? What do we know about the relationship between hormones and homosexuality in adulthood? A unique feature of this book is the follow-up reporting on Money's long-term studies that began over three decades ago. The studies are brought together here for comparison with one another--and with the work of others--and their full significance is systematically evaluated. Also explored here is his pioneering concepts of lovemaps, the pathways of individual sexual and erotic development, and the factors that may shape overall healthy or pathological orientation, paraphilia, and gender transposition in childhood, adolescence, and maturity. Written in accessible language for researchers and clinicians, this authoritative work is both thought-provoking and informative as it explores timely questions of sexual orientation.

Sex and the Brain

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Editorial Review:

This collection of foundational papers on sex differences in the brain traces the development of a much-invoked, fast-growing young field at the intersection of brain and behavior. The reader is introduced to the meaning and nature of sexual dimorphisms, the mechanisms and consequences of steroid hormone action, and the impact of the field on interpretations of sexuality and gender.

Building on each other in point-counterpoint fashion, the papers tell a fascinating story of an emerging science working out its core assumptions. Experimental and theoretical papers, woven together by editor's introductions, open a window onto knowledge in the making and a vigorous debate between reductionist and pluralist interpreters.

Five major sections include papers on conceptual and methodological background, central nervous system dimorphisms, mechanisms for creating dimorphisms, dimorphisms and cognition, and dimorphisms and identity. Each section builds from basic concepts to early experiments, from experimental models to humans, and from molecules to mind. Papers by such leading scholars as Arthur Arnold, Frank Beach, Anne Fausto-Sterling, Patricia Goldman-Rakic, Doreen Kimura, Simon LeVay, Bruce McEwen, Michael Merzenich, Bertram O'Malley, Geoffrey Raisman, and Dick Swaab, illustrate a rich blend of perspectives, approaches, methods, and findings.

Sex and the Brain will show students how a scientific paper can be analyzed from many perspectives, and supply them with critical tools for judging a rapidly emerging science in a contentious area.

Medicines of the Soul: Female Bodies and Sacred Geographies in a Transnational Islam

Fedwa Malti-Douglas

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Editorial Review:

In Medicines of the Soul, the autobiographical writings of three leading women in today's Islamic revival movement reveal dramatic stories of religious transformation. As interpreted by Fedwa Malti-Douglas, the autobiographies provide a powerful, groundbreaking portrayal of gender, religion, and discourses of the body in Arabo-Islamic culture. At the center of each story is a lively female Islamic spirituality that questions secular hierarchies while reaffirming patriarchal ones.