Unraveling Evolution: A Brief History Of The Female Body

When I think about evolution, I think about mostly men’s bodies evolving. Maybe it’s because every image I’ve ever seen depicts MAN moving from knuckle-dragging primate to upright-standing, prefrontal cortex-wielding Super Species. But what is the story of women’s bodies? Deena Emera, PhD, is an evolutionary geneticist, author, and teacher. She earned a bachelor’s degree from UC Berkeley, a master’s degree from NYU, and a PhD from Yale. She currently serves as a senior scientist at the Buck Institute’s Center for Reproductive Longevity and Equality. She’s with us this week to talk about her new book, A Brief History of the Female Body: An Evolutionary Look at How and Why the Female Form Came to Be.  Deena draws on her expertise as a biologist and experience as a mother of four to explore the mysteries of the female body through an evolutionary lens.  We covered a LOT of territory, including pressing questions like … • Did our bodies evolve to give us choice in our reproductive systems? (THIS BLEW MY MIND) • What’s the evolution of the female orgasm? Why is it so different from men’s? • Why are women more prone to auto-immune diseases? • Is the “martyr mother” archetype something that evolved because of our biology, or is it the culture at play? I could not get enough of this conversation … my jaw was on the floor for most of it, so just prepare yourself. ;) Find Deena on Instagram, Twitter (X?!), or LinkedIn @deenaemera . Shine on, my friends.