Woman: An Intimate Geography
by Natalie Angier
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Book Reviews of Woman: An Intimate Geography
Book Review: Very personal and detailed
Summary: 5 Stars
Natalie Angier's "Woman An Intimate Geography," takes the reader into an area that is often taken for granted, not talked about openly at all, and definitely misunderstood- the female body. Throughout the book Angier takes the reader on a journey that explores the vast complexity and intimacy of a woman's body, covering topics that might normally be considered taboo- menopause, orgasms, breast feeding, etc. Besides describing the biological aspects of these topics, Angier discusses the importance of women in a broader context. She covers the myths, stereotypes, and double standards that are placed on women that keep such subjects in a vault of secrecy, making the reader aware of the ways in which women are often categorized and labeled. A great example of this is the double standard she poses of men whose sexual promiscuity is something that is often praised by other men and thought of as `normal,' whereas a woman who is sexually promiscuous is seen by both men and women in a negative manner as a slut or a whore. Women are left to supposedly tackle this contradictory area on their own of being sexually active and pleasing to men, but not go too far or else be subjected to a wall of slanderous thoughts and comments. Angier tackles this dilemma by showing how women should embrace their sexuality and that sex is something wonderful that does not need to be categorized in such a way.
Angier starts off by explaining the basic purpose of her book as a celebration of the female body from its anatomy and chemistry to its evolution. She mixes things that are commonly thought of in a woman's body (the egg, breasts, the uterus, etc.) with things that are not and are almost always associated with men (aggression, strength, and movement). I specifically liked chapter 16 titled "Cheap Meat: Learning To Make a Muscle." I have been active in sports all my life from soccer and cross country, to martial arts and breakdancing and have always heard women in the same sports when complimented about their strength complain that they do not want to gain too much muscle and look like a man, they just want to be toned and `fit.' Angier talks about encountering the same opinions of women when she talks to them about the benefits of strength training. She describes how hard it is for her personally to gain in muscle size even though most women are surprised at her strength because her body does not show it. She then argues what's wrong with women having muscles in the first place? "Muscles are beautiful. Strength is beautiful. Muscle tissue is beautiful. It is metabolically, medically, and philosophically beautiful." I could not agree more.
Angier's book is definitely a must read especially for anyone interested in women's studies or for someone who is exploring their feminist beliefs. This book is not a male-bashing affair (which is not the purpose of feminism in the first place), it is instead an insightful look at a woman's body and how such a magnificent structure should be embraced and exposed to the world in all its glory rather than be left unspoken about just because we as a society are not comfortable talking about menopause or child birth. Her style of writing is passionate, witty, and filled with humor that makes reading through all of the biological level details much easier for someone who is not a biology major. She also adds her personal experiences throughout the book which is fitting for a book that dives into the geography of a woman's body at such a personal level and makes it more comfortable for a reader who might otherwise get lost in the complexity of all that is being described.
Book Review: great read...enjoyed every page
Summary: 4 Stars
Woman: An Intimate Geography, by Natalie Angier, is an absolute must read...a must read for Women, definitely; but, also, I would even recommend it for men to read--married men. It is a brilliant masterpiece.
Angier is a gifted writer. Her sentences are fluid, informed, and entertaining. She says things and phrases things in ways I would not be able to even if I had spent hours planning. She is a "feminist"; but, she is not angry, does not hate men, and loves being a woman. This is the kind of woman I would love be around.
Angier's book starts at the ground level and works its way up through woman: the intricacies of female anatomy--the who, what, why, where, when, and how--right through to the heart, the brain, and out into society where women encounter other women and men. This book is not about stereotypes--although many stereotypes are dealt with--and, it is not about woman being better than or inferior to man--the sexes are not pitted against each other. Angier presents Woman: plain and complex, simple and intricate, beautiful and homely, passive and aggressive, clean and dirty, and freed and bound.
The one major contention I have with the book is the heavy dependence on the theory of evolution. Where she can't explain something by evolution's terms, she just shrugs her shoulders--never once considering a Divine Author, an Intelligent Designer. And, while I greatly appreciated and learned a lot from the constant comparison of humans to certain types of apes, I have a hard time swallowing the idea that I can learn a lot more about myself from watching a female rhesus monkey. Yes, I learned a lot about those chimps and monkeys, and found that there were some "correlations", but, at the end of the day couldn't help but think, "Uhhh...but I'm a human." Though a Chimp's DNA encoding might be similar to ours by 99% (Angier 15), that small 1 % carries a lot of weight and makes a huge difference: we're not that similar.
In spite of that one minor, minor contention (I can't stress how minor it is), the book is high on my list of "must-reads". This will do for you, as a woman--Christian and not, alike--what all those other "women" books fail to do: breath life into your weary, tired bones. Angier proclaims on every page: it's effing great to be a woman; let's celebrate!
NOTE: I just read some reviews that gave this book a poor rating, and some of them seemed to have credence and I appreciate the concern they expressed; and, this is why i have given the book a four star rating and not five. It seems there may be some argument over Angier's data and her examination of that data. However, it is still a great read, as long as we take it for what it is: an interesting book written by a woman and not a scientific text book for biology class.
Book Review: Well-worth the Time
Summary: 4 Stars
There's more to a woman than meets the eye. You would think that being a woman would put you at the top of the list of knowing about ourselves. That just isn't the case. There is a lot we don't know about ourselves. Some we just assume, others we just try not to think about.
Natalie Angier has thought about them, researched them and comprised a book of them in "Woman: An intimate geography." Angier, a Pulitzer Prize Award winner has numerous books under her belt. She's also a regular writer for the New York Times science column.
In "Woman", Angier has divided the body into different areas where she goes into intimate detail. Her discussions include but are not limited to: the female egg, chromosomes, the uterus, menstruating, the clitoris, breasts, breast milk, ovaries, hormones (especially estrogen), female relationships, female aggression, muscles, and psychology. Everything you could think of relating to a woman and maybe some you haven't. To keep things in perspective she hasn't completely left out the men.
This has been an interesting read from beginning to end. In some areas the text is way over my head but the book is understandable and provides reams of data that I didn't know about myself and women in general. It also reinforced some things I did know. On a personal note, I learned there is such a great variance in breasts and menstrual bleeding that I'm normal after all. According to Angier, Hornet talk and "mastering words and barbed insults are an essential task of childhood." And here I thought we were just surrounded by little bitches.
"We are all women with many pasts. We are old primates and neohominids. We feel drawn toward other women, we feel a need to explain ourselves to them and to impress them, and we run away from women, we disavow them, or we keep them around only until the real thing comes along. We can do each other mischief, even violence, but we can do each other good as well. Both options are open to us, in the plastic opportunistic flow chart of our strategies and choices," says Angier.
I believe she's given us a better vessel with which to understand why we are the way we are and the many different forms of whom and what we are. She is positive. She is honest. No aspect of what she says makes any female form inadequate and unappreciated. Her book is a successful delivery of who and what we are and what we have the potential to become.
"An Intimate Geography" would be of interest to young ladies or senior citizens. We're never too old to learn about our bodies. It provides a framework for discussion with other women and helps to put us at ease with one another and ourselves. The 367 pages are well-worth the time.
Book Review: fascinating!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
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
Book Review: An Eye-opening Read for Women Everywhere
Summary: 5 Stars
I just finished reading Woman: An Intimate Geography, by Natalie Angier. All the women in my life should expect to receive a copy from me for the next gift-giving holiday. It was a truly excellent, inspiring, revolutionary, and eye-opening read.
Woman is about the biology of a woman--the what to, and why for of it all. Angier challenges all the old stereotypes that I didn't even know were stereotypes until I saw them in print. Angier brilliantly juxtaposes our anatomy and chemical drives with those of other animals, especially primates, to cue in to why be behave (biologically) as we do. To read this book as a woman is to get a renewed (or even new-found) pride in your sex and the heritage that comes with it. This book is not a man-bashing ultra-feminist book. It is a pragmatic look at women, the differences between the sexes, and if all things were equal, how different would we really be?
I loved the last chapter: Of Hoggamus and Hogwash: Putting Evolutioary Psychology on the Couch. If you don't know, evolutionary psychology attempts to give reasons for the sexual status quo (i.e. woman are biologically smaller than men because they have men to protect them). Here she challenges the old adage:
Hoggamus, higgamus
Men are polygamous
Higgamus, hoggamus
Women are monogamous
In doing so, she undermines the double standard men and women both use against females. The belief that men can't help but be lusty, but if a woman is lusty she is a whore or a tramp, and is therefore unforgiveable. She defies the idea that a women needs a man more than a man needs a woman.
In one part of the book, she talked about how t.v. commercials aimed at selling Barbies, etc to little girls drove her crazy. To paraphrase: Sure, there may be no harm in eating up all that sugar sweet girlyness--but if you eat too much, all your teeth just might fall out.
"In the US a bachelor's degree adds $28,000 to a man's salary but only $9,000 to a woman's. A degree from a high-prestige school contributes $11,500 to a man's salary but subtracts $2,400 from a woman's--yes, subtracts, though no one knows why." We know these statistics, but I think they are worth mentioning again and again. It's not just about getting paid the same. It's not about money or greed. It's about having the same potential and not being able to fulfill it in all situations. It's about the unfairness of being dismissed simply because of your sex.
Even if you are anti-feministic in your thoughts, her points are good fodder for discussion as she uses a lot of scientific data to form her conclusions. I HIGHLY recommend this book!