(4.95 Stars)

If you are interested in animals (including ourselves), genetics, gender, environment, science, history, or really just very well written books... this could be for you!

We have all heard about how scientists and other inventors, creators, etc. have been overlooked because of patriarchal "norms". Well the same holds true in the animal kingdom. Read this eye-opening book. ( )

Informative and funny. It combines research ,anecdotes and personal interviews to illuminate a lot about the females of many species.It’s a meditation on how preconceived notions can effect science even without the scientists realizing it. Here and there a bit preachy, but a great read ( )

Extensive research into the critical role of the female of all species. ( )

This book was soooo informative and downright fun to learn about all of these spectacular females . I am gonna be honest but I also kind of held quite sexist views regarding animals , but this book was such a game changer . You should just go and pick it up ❤️ ( )

I absolutely LOVED this one. I've already bought myself a copy and sent it home with my mom, to loan to my aunt, who I thought might enjoy it. My aunt apparently saw the title and went "Ooh, Bitch! I have to read this book!"

I can't wait to see her in a few weeks so we can chat about some of the absolutely astounding things present in Bitch from corkscrew-shaped vaginas to lesbian albatrosses to orca menopause. I personally cannot wait to discuss how Marlin in Finding Nemo should have changed sex into Marla after the death of his wife!

I was both fascinated and furious by how much of science is biased not only against human women but against female animals too! So much of not only basic science but also our general concepts of sex and gender within the natural world comes from the indubitably biased mentality that prioritized things that were male, white, British, and upper class. (Indeed, a previous bedtime bookclub read [b:For All the Tea in China: Espionage, Empire and the Secret Formula for the World's Favourite Drink|3081255|For All the Tea in China Espionage, Empire and the Secret Formula for the World's Favourite Drink|Sarah Rose|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1328015835l/3081255._SY75_.jpg|3112300] goes in depth into how difficult it was to even study science if you weren't of the right class in Britain) Cooke interviews several experts in their zoological fields, some of whom are even close friends, and their excitement over their subjects was palpable. You could feel their frustrations with having to fight doubly hard for every inch of intellectual ground gained by nature of being women and by their desire to study the bodies and behaviours of females (as well as males). As anyone who has ever sought to study an aspect of themselves in academia, be it gender or race or sexuality, knows that there's always a specific cadre of people who will scoff at the attempt and say the person is "pushing an agenda".

Not only is Bitch fascinating because of the animals it covers, but it is incredibly timely. 2022 has seen only an increase in hatred against LGBT community, especially trans people, in a variety of terrifying and dangerous ways. The hatred spewed by these people is often backed by anti-feminist gender essentialism (despite their claim to the opposite) and shoddy science. That it is shoddy science is made very clear by Cooke in Bitch over and over again as she explains that sex is very complicated and not at all uniform in any species, let alone ones as complicated as humans.

I thought the author covered a great selection of animals across the globe and across taxonomies; from that old biology classic the prodigious fruit fly to birds of all sizes (songbirds! albatrosses! peacocks!) to big cats and killer whales. She also delivers a phenomenal amount of information in a fun and engaging way that made it a delight to read. ( )