Book Commentary: Madame Bovary's Ovaries
In reading Madame Bovary's Ovaries, I find myself torn on many axes. First, the biologist in me thrills to the scrumptious tidbits of biological determinism referenced here, and the Renaissance in me dances joyfully at the juxtaposition of biology, human culture, and literature.
But the Childfree aspect of myself bucks in protest at the assumption that our inspiration stems from our desire to produce biological offspring, and the seeming inability of humans to ever divorce ourselves from such shackles. (yet, the authors' language is very carefully and diplomatically chosen, and for that, I applaud them)
I think that a book like this will help cull the insecure from the confident - those who would be angry at such a work because it questions something that they themselves are unsure of and unable to stand by, and those who know that this is merely an acknowledgment of the origins from whence we stem, and not the goals towards which we must all strive (and indeed, it is almost ego-boosting to pride oneself on being a member of the rare few who do defy the trend).
This is a damn good book. ^_^
But the Childfree aspect of myself bucks in protest at the assumption that our inspiration stems from our desire to produce biological offspring, and the seeming inability of humans to ever divorce ourselves from such shackles. (yet, the authors' language is very carefully and diplomatically chosen, and for that, I applaud them)
I think that a book like this will help cull the insecure from the confident - those who would be angry at such a work because it questions something that they themselves are unsure of and unable to stand by, and those who know that this is merely an acknowledgment of the origins from whence we stem, and not the goals towards which we must all strive (and indeed, it is almost ego-boosting to pride oneself on being a member of the rare few who do defy the trend).
This is a damn good book. ^_^