“Boys will be boys”. That old adage, and its testosterone-fuelled roots are a tale as old as time. We all want this phrase to be relegated to the world of language-past but surely we can’t because “it’s science”. “It’s testosterone”. Except…it isn’t.
Taking an exploratory amble through sex and gender research, Testosterone Rex interrogates the idea of testosterone being the key determinant of gender-based qualities in humans, as well as the wider debate around sex differences and whether these truly mean anything in the modern world. Broken down into ‘past’, ‘present’ and ‘future’ sections, this book analyses a range of research and cultures in an attempt to answer questions and alleviate assumptions around the ‘male hormone’.
This is such an important book and I’m glad that it’s been written. It challenges many of the stereotypical assumptions we have about sexual differentiation in humans, the role testosterone plays in that and the degree of fluidity these factors have. It’s an important voice that cuts through the miasma surrounding this debate and fundamentally rebukes so many of the arguments that those who benefit from these divisions also pose. The range of arguments and studies use provide a strong, extensive and evidence-based set of reasoning for how we’ve got to this point, and how we can begin to dismantle this in our world.
As someone who studied biology at university until recently, a lot of what was discussed are arguments that I have seen before, and tackle issues in ways that I am used to addressing. Nevertheless, the arguments and evidence presented here are, at times, very complicated and difficult to follow. Despite being written and marketed to lay audiences, the book is very scientific and at times had me confused and struggling to follow the points that were presented. It’s not impossible to read by any means, but especially if you’re not from a scientific background, be prepared for some complex research at the forefront of the field.
I also felt that the overall structure felt disjointed at times. Each chapter felt like an isolated essay that have been compiled together to form an overall book. Some points, contextual information and topical discussion were repeated in multiple sections, making the overall publication feel like an accumulation of several other works. Whilst this certainly did help to break up a lot of the deeper scientific discussions, the lack of cohesion left me struggling to take ideas between sections, which when also lacking a concluding chapter or overall summary, further emphasised the disjointed nature of the narrative.
I think this book does a fantastic job at dismantling a lot of the ‘understanding’ society has about testosterone, gender stereotypes, expectations and risk taking between sexes, and uses a mix of narrative and research to communicate that to both scientific and lay audiences. But the book definitely has its weaknesses and left me very confused at several points. If you’re interested in this area and are prepared for a lot of theoretical science, then it’s absolutely worth a read. If not, you may find this one challenging.
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Testosterone Rex (ISBN: 978-1-78578-318-0) was published in 2017. A copy is available to borrow from the LGBTQ+ Lending Library in the Liberation Lounge
