What does it mean to be female? Mother, carer, the weaker sex? Think again.
In this entertaining and fascinating talk award-winning broadcaster and filmmaker Lucy Cooke demonstrates how the female of the species has been marginalised and misunderstood by the scientific patriarchy; not least Darwin, who cast the female in the shape of a Victorian housewife: passive, coy and monogamous.
Drawing from her book Bitch, the bitches in this talk overturn outdated binary expectations of bodies, brains, biology and behaviour. Lucy introduces us to a riotous cast of animals – and the scientists studying them – who together are redefining not just the female of the species but the very forces that shape evolution.
Learn about the female lemurs of Madagascar, our ancient primate cousins that dominate the males of their species physically and politically. Or female albatross couples, hooking up together to raise their chicks in Hawaii. Or the meerkat mothers of the Kalahari Desert – the most murderous mammals on the planet.
‘A glorious debunking of gender stereotypes…A bold and gripping takedown of the sexist mythology baked into biology.’ – GUARDIAN
‘A completes and precise exploration of sex, what a joy!’ Chris Packham