Nonfiction – Nonfiction and Nonsense

Sex on the Brain by Deborah Blum

Even though this book was first published in 1997, I found that a lot of the information inside was still relevant and held nearly thirty years later when I decided to read it. I have found that you can tell a book was well researched, and that the theories the author chose to discuss were founded on solid science, when the science is still being studied in the present and the theories are still being pursued. And that was certainly the case here.

This book touches on many different topics that relate to the biological differences between men and women. There are reasons why we are wired the way that we are. Some traits we have carried with us are no longer necessary, think about the useless appendix, and other traits have always been and may always be required for us to function. The author discusses such topics as why is morning sickness still a thing, gossip, the mystery of monogamy, the evolutionary theory as to why it is advantageous for all species to have homosexuality, and the reason why some hetersexual men get both angry and jealous of homosexual male couples. Really, this book has it all. There are two particular topics that I wanted to discuss with some depth as they are topics that I am always drawn to. And I chose these in particular because the author was discussing them back in 1997, and they are still important bits of science that those in the field are still considering today.

The author seemed to have really good intuition into what the future holds genetically in a passage discussing chromosomes. The X chromosome has most of the genetic code on it, around two thousand genes, whereas the Y chromosome has less than eighty. It is widely known that it is the male’s genetic material which determines the gender of the child, women’s eggs are all X chromosomes and male sperm have either an X or Y chromosome. The Y chromosome mostly just exists as a signal to make the embryo into a male human. Without the Y chromosome, we would all be female. Scientists are currently trying to determine if a female’s bone marrow could be used to fertilize an egg, thus creating a human with the genetic contribution of two women rather than a woman and a man. If this is something that can be done, males will eventually become obsolete. Being a man does put you at a disadvantage genetically, and if in the future more people are more concerned as a society about producing a healthy child, then they might not want the option of having a male. If you are a woman and you inherit a bad gene on one X chromosome, but a healthy version of the same gene on the other X chromosome, you get the good one. The same is not always true for a man, if that gene does not exist on the Y chromosome then you get stuck with the bad gene. There are many disorders that are more prevalent in men for this reason. I found this extremely fascinating.

Another topic that always captures my interest is body size in relation to male genital size. In species where the males are physically much larger than the females, you will see very small genitals. When the females and males are similar in body size, the genital size becomes more proportionate to that of the body. The topic was touched only briefly, but it was explained in easy to understand terms here. But I always find the theoretical discussions on this topic insightful from an evolutionary standpoint. I enjoy pondering the why behind the designs of animal forms.

Besides the very entertaining biological content, I was really amused with the names of some of the people in this text. I found it hilariously coincidental that several people had names that suited their careers. John Wingfield, an avian biologist, and Marc Breedlove, a behavioral endocrinologist who studies hormones, just to name two. And as I have said a few times before, a non fiction book, regardless of the topic, is always much more pleasant to read when it is well written. The author had a sense of humor and was relatable. I like it when an author adds tidbits from their life that go hand in hand with what they are writing about.

Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann

Nonfiction

I haven’t read a history book in a while, and I am glad that I chose this one because it was interesting, informative, but most of all, it was horrid in the most heinous of ways.

The events of this novel started taking place a little over a hundred years ago. It feels like such a short period of time when you consider the existence of humans. I have a hard time imagining how at the time caucasian people treated native american indians as though they were barely human, as though the color of their skin meant they were not equals of white men. The native americans were pushed from their lands almost as soon as european immigrants started to colonize north america, they were still doing it up until around a hundred years ago. It was because of the greed of white men, the forcing of native americans off of their ancestral land that was the starting point of this great tragedy that was referred to as the Reign of Terror.

When the Osage tribe was told that they had to leave their land and move to a dry, rocky, seemingly useless pittance given to them by the United States government, they did so. Being a people of the land they knew how to survive anywhere. But the government didn’t realize that the land they gifted to the Osage people was rich in oil. Soon after the discovery of the oil, white men started to flock to that very land and drill into it, trying to get every drop of that black gold. Because the land was owned by the Osage, they became some of the wealthiest people in the country. As you can imagine, prejudiced white men didn’t like that there were native american indians becoming more wealthy than they were, more wealthy than they could even imagine. Thus began a huge scandal of false marriages, poisonings, murders, and other cruelties that I can’t believe were possible.

This story was absolutely wild. I can’t believe that the officers of the law were able to finally untangle the web that was the plot to rob the Osage tribe of all their wealth, essentially actively sending all these people into poverty as they made themselves wealthy beyond imagination. Now that I know the real story, I am eager to see how the movie portrays these events. I imagine there will be that Hollywood flair added, but I am mostly keen to see if the writers and directors were able to portray just what a gruesome moment in history this was, something that should not have happened and should never happen again. I would like to offer the highest of praise to the author of this book for taking the time to go through thousands of pages of documents that were at least a century old, and piecing together everything the way he did to make it such an informative and enlightening read.

Moody Bitches by Julie Holland, MD

Nonfiction

If anyone has been wondering where I have been, although I highly doubt anyone has been worried over my disappearance, I moved and I have just been too busy to read or write for the past few weeks. I am finally settled in enough that I can get back to reading books and writing reviews for them. And hopefully I will be able to stay consistent with my usual weekly schedule.

So, while I finished this book prior to my move, I have not had a chance to write anything until now. But I was so intrigued by the contents that it is still fresh in my mind. I enjoyed this book thoroughly, it was well written, absolutely fascinating, insightful, and full of very valuable knowledge that I will need one day. I already started implementing some changes into my life in the hopes of seeing some improvements in both my body and my mind.

The subtitle says it all, this book will tell you everything you need to know as a woman, how you can make changes to improve your life now and how you can prepare for the future. There is abundance of information about hormones, how they fluctuate throughout the month, which ones make you frisky and which ones make you find sex unappealing, and what hormones you’re going to have more or less of as you age. It goes over what certain foods and beverages might be good or bad for you throughout your cycle and your life. Apparently, I need to enjoy coffee while I am young because I may need to steer clear of it as I get older. It talks about sleep, how much you need, the cons of napping, and what may be affecting your sleep (food, drink, alcohol, drugs, hormones, stress). If you have questions about your sex drive, chances are you will find answers here. There are discussions regarding the effect of drugs on the sex drive, including birth control and psychiatric medications. Having children and a career makes it very difficult for a lot of women to switch from mother/business woman mode to their sexual self, there are suggestions for what you can do to find that woman again. That is a general overview, it would be impossible for me to summarize this book, and I wouldn’t want to anyway. I believe that every woman should read this book. Why wouldn’t you want to know more about your own body? I also believe that men should read this book too. It would benefit any man that is in a relationship with a woman, understanding what they go through not just day to day but over the course of their lives would strengthen any relationship.

I do want to give special attention to one chapter in this book, the one discussing perimenopause. I only heard this term very recently, but since becoming aware of it I have been very interested in learning more. Perimenopause is the stage that occurs before menopause, it can begin years before the female body is getting ready to enter menopause and it can begin earlier than you think, sometimes even in the late thirties. Menopause actually only lasts one day, and that day is the anniversary of your last period. Before that day comes, women experience irregular periods, hot flashes, and a slew of other unpleasantness. Knowing that perimenopause is coming, that it might be closer than you think, can enable you to prepare yourself for it. Knowing what you can do to try to make the inevitable changes easier for you is even better.

I would also like to make mention of just a fun and thought provoking subject matter that was discussed a few times in the book throughout. Human bodies produce their own cannabinoids, the molecules get pumped into production during times of stress. Besides cannabinoids being effective in calming you down, they also regulate your metabolism. You wouldn’t think so, but people who partake in cannabis regularly have smaller waistlines than those who don’t. So if you do smoke or ingest recreationally you don’t have to worry about the munchies affecting your weight.

Well that’s enough praise from me. Woman, man, or anyone in between, I highly recommend reading this book.

The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli

Banned, Nonfiction

A part philosophical, part political text which instructs how to be the best kind of ruler according to the circumstances that lead up to your ascension as well as how to conduct your reign after, this is another book I have acquired for my banned books collection.

I don’t expect to ever be a ruler of any kind, but I can see how this could be helpful if I were to somehow fall into a position of power. Not every person at the head of a country or government deserves to be there, and certainly not all of those people are cut out for it. Whether you have inherited your power, taken it by force, or been nominated by others, Machiavelli outlines how to rule well so that ultimately you can remain in that position. I do believe that there are many people in power today who could take a lesson, or several, from this text.

I can see why this is on banned book lists. Even though it was written in the 1500s, it is still relevant today and the man makes many good points. He makes examples of many things that I think are obvious but apparently they are not so obvious to others. It is a book that gives people something to think about. It will make you question why we allow some glaringly terrible leaders to remain in power. It also gives examples of the things that can happen to bad leaders, which should hopefully have been enough to make those leaders who read this text want to do a good job. And while overly violent assassinations are not so common today, torture, beheading, and dismemberment, just to give a few examples, I would think that wanting to remain in the good eye of the public would be enough to make leaders want to try to do what is best for the people.

I think this is a good book to keep around, but I don’t see myself reading it in its entirety again. The chapters are short enough that you can go back and read only the passages that interest you or that you want to pull an example from. I did mark a few pages, mostly excerpts that I found had relevance to the current political climate in this country. There was one very small paragraph towards the end that irritated me, regarding beating women, but I tried to remind myself that this was written during a time when women’s rights were pretty much non-existent and to not get too worked up over it. I didn’t let that one passage change my entire opinion of the text, and notwithstanding that I would recommend reading The Prince as well as have you consider adding it to your physical book collection.

Witches, Sluts, Feminists by Kristen J. Sollee

Nonfiction

What is a witch? Do you immediately think of a woman in a black dress and pointed hat holding a broom, perhaps making a potion? Or is your definition of a witch a follower of the Wiccan religion? From Voodoo wielders of the south, to spell casters burning herbs and using the healing powers of crystals, there are many different types of witches, both from the past and in the present. What we think of as a witch has been shaped over centuries, has been influenced by story telling, movies, music, and so much more. What do sluts and feminists have to do with witches? The three words are strongly intertwined, and in some cases can be used intermittently.

Centuries ago, the word witch was a label given to a woman that was a threat either because she possessed valuable knowledge that threatened a male dominated society, or because she was different. In the instance of knowledge, the woman in question had skills that took away the business of men that were pursuing work in the same field. For example, men were particularly threatened by midwives, even though these women understood their fellow female patients’ bodies better than their male counterparts, and often delivered less harmful and more beneficial treatment. If a female healer became too popular, you can bet that the male doctor running his business in the same area would accuse her of witchcraft if he felt threatened. It didn’t matter if the female healer was better at her job, no man wanted a woman earning more business than him. Any man could claim that any woman was a witch if he didn’t want her taking all his business, and this was not limited to medical practice.

On the other end of it, witch was not always an accusation thrown at women providing healing services, but also towards women who didn’t fit in with society. If you replace the word witch with slut, you will see parallels with how the words were used in a negative way against women centuries ago versus today. In a town full of plain looking, God worshipping women, an out of town beauty passing through could find herself accused of witchcraft if jealous or frightened wives noticed that their husbands eyes were straying. It is very common today for attractive women to be called sluts, because people seem to think beauty goes hand in hand with promiscuity. In both cases, the woman in question could be completely innocent of the harsh allegations being made, but if enough people grow angry or fearful, the woman’s reputation will be destroyed.

Slut is also a slur often thrown at outspoken women, particularly avid feminists. A smart woman, one who proudly voices her opinion confidently, one who advocates for equality and change, is often referred to as a whore or slut. Feminists are the greatest threat to the patriarchy, and this causes fear. And we come full circle back to witch, a word that resulted in the useless deaths of many intelligent, outgoing, and caring women over centuries.

This book not only goes into the history of the words, how they are intertwined, but how women today are using these once negative words to bring power back to themselves. They are taking these words that once caused a lot of harm and changing their definitions. Modern witches, sluts, and feminists are making the words positive rather than negative. They are making it harder for women to be insulted by these words, they are making women feel inspired by them. After reading this book, I see how in the right circumstances being called a witch, slut, or feminist could be a glowing compliment. This book makes me want to search within myself, perhaps to find my inner witch, slut, or feminist.