Evolution's Rainbow

Diversity, Gender, and Sexuality in Nature and People

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Joan Roughgarden: Evolution's Rainbow (2005, University of California Press)

Paperback, 474 pages

English language

Published Dec. 6, 2005 by University of California Press.

ISBN:
978-0-520-24679-9
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In this book, the author challenges accepted wisdom about gender identity and sexual orientation. She takes on the medical establishment, the Bible, social science--and even Darwin himself. She leads the reader through a ... discussion of diversity in gender and sexuality among fish, reptiles, amphibians, birds, and mammals, including primates. She argues that principal elements of Darwinian sexual selection theory are false and suggests a new theory that emphasizes social inclusion and control of access to resources and mating opportunity.

She disputes a range of scientific and medical concepts, including Wilson's genetic determinism of behavior, evolutionary psychology, the existence of a gay gene, the role of parenting in determining gender identity, and Dawkins's "selfish gene" as the driver of natural selection. She dares social science to respect the agency and rationality of diverse people; shows that many cultures across the world and throughout history accommodate people we label today as …

8 editions

Subjects

  • Animal behaviour
  • Gender Studies
  • Sexual behaviour
  • Social Science
  • Sociology
  • Anthropology - General
  • General
  • Social Science / Gender Studies