This book traces the history of how evolutionary biology transformed its understanding of females from being coy, reserved and sexually passive, to having active sexual strategies and often mating with multiple males. Why did it take so long to discover female active sexual strategies? What prevented some researchers from engaging in sexually active females, and what prompted others to develop this new knowledge?
The Female Turn provides a global overview of shifting perceptions about females in sexual selection research on a wide range of animals, from invertebrates to primates. Evolutionary biologist and feminist science scholar Malin Ah-King explores this history from a unique interdisciplinary vantage point. Based on extensive knowledge of the scientific literature on sexual selection and in-depth interviews with leading researchers, pioneers and feminist scientists in the field, her analysis engages with key theoretical approaches in gender studies of science. Analyzing the researchers’ scientific interests, theoretical frameworks, specific study animals, technological innovations, methodologies and sometimes feminist insights, reveals how these have shaped conclusions drawn about sex. Thereby, The Female Turn shows how certain researchers gained knowledge about active females whereas others missed, ignored or delayed it – that is, how ignorance was produced.
Author(s): Malin Ah-King
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2023
Language: English
Pages: 331
City: Singapore
Acknowledgments
Contents
List of Figures
1: Introduction
What is Sexual Selection?
Sexual Selection from a Gender Perspective
Theoretical Framework
Epistemology of Ignorance
Situated Knowledges
Materials
Relations to Interviewees and Impact on Knowledge-Making
Outline of the Chapters
References
2: An Early Female Turn in Primate Research
Early Western Primatology
Shifting Perceptions About Females
Females Are Not Coy and Passive
Female Dominance
Changing Methodology
Changing Language
Primate Models for Human Evolution
Female Orgasm
Multiple Feminist Strategies
Sarah Blaffer Hrdy: Feminist Pioneer in Primatology
Infanticide as a Sexually Selected Reproductive Strategy
Empathy with Females of Other Species
A Male-Biased Field
Male-Biased Responses
Criticizing Ignorance of Females in Evolutionary Biology
Challenging Assumptions About Mothers and Care
A Feminist Pioneer
Meredith Small: Female Primates and Their Power Relations
The Influence of the Study Species
Questioning Prevailing Assumptions About Choosy Females
Experiences of Resistance
Small’s Situated Knowledges
Overlooked Females in Anthropology: Man the Hunter and Woman the Gatherer
Japanese Primatology: Early Recognition of Female Power
A Sociological Perspective on Primates and the Human-Animal Continuum
Influence on International Primatology
Anthropomorphism and Empathy
Primatology Politics
Influence of Women, Feminism and Gender-Reflective Approaches on Primatology
Chapter Conclusions
References
3: Turning Appreciation of Female Choice
A Contextual Gender History of Charles Darwin’s Sexual Selection
The Darwin-Wallace Debate over Female Choice
The Scientific Community’s Response to Sexual Selection
Early Feminist Appreciation and Critique of Sexual Selection
The Eclipse of Sexual Selection
Marginalized Sexual Selection
Bateman’s Experiment
Disciplinary Boundaries Affect Knowledge Transfer
Different Versions of Eclipse Narratives
1970s’ Forceful Revival of Sexual Selection
Shifting from Group to Individual Selection
Parental Investment Theory
Sociobiology
Malte Andersson—Pioneering Female Choice Studies in Birds
Ending the Female Choice Controversy
State-of-the-Art in Sexual Selection in 1994
Subsequent Research on Female Ornaments
Lack of Resistance to Female Choice
The Modern Development of Sexual Selection
An Expanding Field of Study
Zuleyma Tang-Martínez—Criticizing the Darwin-Bateman Paradigm
Chapter Conclusions
References
4: A Female Turn in Bird Research
“The Polyandry Revolution”
Classical Study Species
Assumptions of Monogamous Females
Technical Innovations
Assumptions of Passive Females
Casting Doubt upon Early Interpretations of Active Females
Shifting Perceptions toward Active Females
Patricia Gowaty—Feminist Pioneer on Polyandry, Female Aggression and Female Agency
Reporting Polyandry in a Socially Monogamous Bird
Surrounded by Parentage Detectives
Aggressive Females
Feminist Influences and Interventions
Pushing Boundaries
Simon Griffith—From Extra-Pair Paternity to Pair-Bonds
Studying Sexual Selection in European Model Species
Studying Australian Birds
Experiences of Shifting Perceptions
Controversy over Interpretations of Female Agency in Extra-Pair Copulations
Cryptic Female Choice in Birds
The Influence of Study Species
Chapter Conclusions
References
5: Shifting Perceptions about Female Insects, Snakes, Frogs, Lizards, Fishes and Spiders
Insect Research—Early Knowledge about Female Multiple Mating
Darryl Gwynne—Experimenting with “Gender Fluid” Insects
Flexibility in “Sex Roles”
Gwynne’s View of Sex Differences
Gwynne’s Situated Knowledges
Snake Research: Rick Shine—Benefits of Female Multiple Mating and Ecological Causes of Sex Differences
Female Adders Benefit from Multiple Mating
Feminist Influences
New Findings on Female Reproduction
Ecological Causes of Sex Differences
Shine’s Contribution
Jesús Rivas—Disclosing Widespread Female Multiple Mating among Snakes
Human Bias against Other Species
Frog Research—No Controversy over Female Multiple Mating
Mike Ryan—Understanding Frog Mate Choice “through the brain of the female”
Sensory Exploitation and Female Agency
Ryan’s Approach
Lizard Research—A Late Shift toward Acknowledging Female Multiple Mating and Active Females
Fish Research—Feminists Highlight the Role of Females
Shifting Perceptions of Females in Fish Research
Feminist Interventions
Currently Understudied Issues
Spider Research—An Idiosyncratic History of Sexual Selection
A Natural Historian’s Perspective on Spider Sexual Selection
Discovering Cryptic Female Choice in Spiders
Taxonomic Resistance
Taxonomic Bias
Chapter Conclusions
References
6: Sexual Selection After Mating: Turning Perceptions of Female Agency
Geoff Parker: Founding Sperm Competition
Pioneering Sexual Selection Studies
Female Perspectives
Being in a Male Phenotype
The Reception of Sperm Competition
Response to Cryptic Female Choice
Parker’s Situated Knowledges
Randy Thornhill: Coining Cryptic Female Choice and a Career Ripe with Controversies
Developing the Idea of Crypic Female Choice
Reception of Thornhill’s Research
Coining Cryptic Female Choice
Development of Cryptic Female Choice Research
William Eberhard: Developing the Big Picture of Cryptic Female Choice
Interest in the Diversity of Animal Genitals
Ignorance of Cryptic Female Choice
Controversy Over Cryptic Female Choice
Initial Response: Reviews of Female Control
Recognition and Skepticism of Cryptic Female Choice
Eberhard’s Response to the Skepticism
Debate About Female Sperm Choice
Problematizing the Dichotomy Between Sperm Competition and Cryptic Female Choice
Reformulating the Definition of Cryptic Female Choice
Continued Underestimation of Cryptic Female Choice
Current State of Cryptic Female Choice in the Scientific Community
Are Females Harder to Study?
Leigh Simmons: Female Choice and Sperm Competition in Insects
Controversy Over Cryptic Female Choice in Yellow Dung Flies
Variability in Female Genitals
New Technology Enables Looking into Female-Male Genital Interactions
Postcopulatory Sexual Selection in Birds
Initial Neglect of Cryptic Female Choice in Bird Research
Ignorance of the Fertility Assurance Hypothesis
Evidence of Cryptic Female Choice in Gouldian Finches
Production of Ignorance About Cryptic Female Choice in Birds
Sexual Conflict: Another Example of Male Precedence
Chapter Conclusions
References
7: Conclusions: An Epistemology of Ignorance in Sexual Selection
The Turn Metaphor
Situated Knowledges and Ignorance Production in Sexual Selection
Formulation of the Theory
Reception of the Theory
Forming the Sexual Selection Field
Early Female Turn in Primatology
Bird Research
Insect Research
Snake Research
Frog Research
Fish Research
Spider Research
Not a Uniform Shift
The Study Species’ Influences
Mechanisms of Ignorance Production in Sexual Selection
A Repeated Pattern of Male Precedence
Loss of Acquired Knowledge
Undermining Authority of Certain Knowers
Cultivating Ignorance by Not Citing
Continued Male Bias
Contrasting Sexual Selection in Males and Females
Why Is Sexual Selection in Females Still Understudied?
An Alternative Female Turn
Sexual Selection Definitions
Sexual Selection Is Assumed to Be Lesser or Non-existent in Females
The Overlooked Issue of Social Selection
Harder to Study Females
Gender and Science
My Situated Knowledges About the Female Turn
References
Appendix 1
Selection of Interviewees
List of Interviewees
Additional Researchers Contacted by E-mail
Index
