A review by littlebookterror
The Spectrum of Sex: The Science of Male, Female, and Intersex, by Hida Viloria, Maria Nieto, Alex Lee-Goldman
4.0
This is a very interesting scientific look at the biology and language surrounding physical sex, genitals, and genomes. It's written in an educational tone without sounding patronizing.
I am a strong advocate for more LGBTQIA+ representation but know very little about the I in the acronym personally. This book offered many explanations and further research options if needed.
It offers a detailed explanation of what variants of sex the human body can be made up of and how we failed to properly classify it and force it into the known male/female binary. While it didn't offer me any new information on the topic, I was able to understand it all despite being a non-native English speaker. It also sheds a light on non-Western people and how they had more genders but were forced to assimilate.
The scholarly chapters are broken up by personal stories from intersex individuals and how they grew up and searched for their right identity. Those talk about the overlap between sex and racism or LGBTQIA+ community in important ways. I found those stories the most fascinating and eye-opening.
I did think it was a bit too short overall. I would have been interested in some numbers and what studies have been done so far. I know this is not the most interesting thing but graphs and figures would have made it palatable.
I do have to say that the atrocious formatting of the arc makes it harder for me to separate my feelings of the book itself from the actual content inside.
I received an advanced reading copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I am a strong advocate for more LGBTQIA+ representation but know very little about the I in the acronym personally. This book offered many explanations and further research options if needed.
It offers a detailed explanation of what variants of sex the human body can be made up of and how we failed to properly classify it and force it into the known male/female binary. While it didn't offer me any new information on the topic, I was able to understand it all despite being a non-native English speaker. It also sheds a light on non-Western people and how they had more genders but were forced to assimilate.
The scholarly chapters are broken up by personal stories from intersex individuals and how they grew up and searched for their right identity. Those talk about the overlap between sex and racism or LGBTQIA+ community in important ways. I found those stories the most fascinating and eye-opening.
I did think it was a bit too short overall. I would have been interested in some numbers and what studies have been done so far. I know this is not the most interesting thing but graphs and figures would have made it palatable.
I do have to say that the atrocious formatting of the arc makes it harder for me to separate my feelings of the book itself from the actual content inside.
I received an advanced reading copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.