crabbygirl reviewed The End of Gender by Debra Soh
Review of 'The End of Gender' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
first off, this author was smart to include so many footnotes/references to back-up her claims AND she encouraged all readers to look up the studies themselves and draw their own conclusions. But it irked me that she inserted herself (and her personal opinions - which we all know can be divorced from fact) into the book. what does the merits of the author - pro gay rights, heavy attender of drag shows, appearing very feminine but possessing many masculine traits - matter to the thesis? it's another case of prioritizing the messenger rather than the message. Heck! she even sidebars that, when researching whether to 'believe' scientific studies, we should first look into the author's academic department and if their bio contains the buzzwords like inequity or lived experience! Please, please, bring back science that follows the principle of scientific inquiry!
many times I was unsure if she wanted to …
first off, this author was smart to include so many footnotes/references to back-up her claims AND she encouraged all readers to look up the studies themselves and draw their own conclusions. But it irked me that she inserted herself (and her personal opinions - which we all know can be divorced from fact) into the book. what does the merits of the author - pro gay rights, heavy attender of drag shows, appearing very feminine but possessing many masculine traits - matter to the thesis? it's another case of prioritizing the messenger rather than the message. Heck! she even sidebars that, when researching whether to 'believe' scientific studies, we should first look into the author's academic department and if their bio contains the buzzwords like inequity or lived experience! Please, please, bring back science that follows the principle of scientific inquiry!
many times I was unsure if she wanted to abolish gender or reinforce it, because the title implies the desire to 'end' it but she successfully argued for gender being very much linked to biology, at least for 98% of humanity (and even some animals!) Dr Money's poor David Reimer, evolutionary biology/psychology, and my own observations of my children contradict the popular 'gender is a social construct' mantra.
the biggest weakness of the book is probably also it's greatest strength: it is written in layman's terms for people who are just coming to this subject. but I'm a person who is well versed in these arguments, so it seemed overly facile in many spots (especially concerning intact male bodies in women's prisons)