MixedWashington PostDe Waal turns again to the ape world, this time to explore the connection between gender and biology. As I said, brave. Whether he’s convincing is another matter ... He points to differences in the behavior of male and female primates as evidence that biology explains more of human gender differences than many would like to believe. That is not necessarily a baseless argument, but de Waal never provides a concrete definition of \'biology\' for us to consider ... An explicit definition of biology, by way of hypothetical genetic mechanisms, would have gone a long way in supporting the central premise ... Still, de Waal’s book is a valuable addition to the public discussion of sex and gender. Analyzing the behavior of close evolutionary relatives is a scientifically sound way to understand the origins of our own behavior ... Even if Different doesn’t provide satisfying answers to our questions about gender and sex, it is still a valuable collection of amusing, heartwarming and sometimes heartbreaking anecdotes about our animal cousins.
Ed. by Halimah Marcus
RaveThe Washington Post\"This is no collection of cliche musings about the bond between horse and human. These are essays—cerebral, emotional and deeply intimate—by writers including Jane Smiley, T Kira Madden, Maggie Shipstead and Carmen Maria Machado, all of whom have had a formative relationship with horses. These provocative memoirs explore big subjects: childhood, power, independence, desire. The authors don’t sugarcoat. The pain they express at times is palpable, and because they represent such a refreshing diversity of voices, there’s a story here for just about everyone ... After reading their stories, I’ve come to see a horse girl as a brave, young, empathetic seeker of freedom and connection, someone who may or may not identify as a girl but surely identifies with the power and potential of a massive animal with steely muscles and a soft nose ... Anyone looking to connect with the fire in the belly of their girlhood, or anyone simply drawn to books about people and their passions, will find something to love about Horse Girls.
