Sarah Blaffer Hrdy

I was finally motivated to pull this weighty tome down off of the shelf after an intriguing review by my sister of Hrdy's most recent work: Mothers and Others. An anthropologist, Hrdy uses human history, observations of our closest evolutionary relatives, and even social insects to examine what is really the true nature of motherhood. As a feminist, she is perhaps not surprised to find that much of what we have traditionally viewed as natural maternal behavior is in fact wishful thinking.

I show more found this book incredibly impressive and profoundly influential. Many times I've found both Andrew and I reciting anecdotes and arguments from this book in discussions on gender and parenting. (There were quite a number of sections I just had to read aloud to Andrew.)

Though I didn't always agree with her every point, I look forward to reading other work by Hrdy, and will continue to recommend her far and wide. show less

Feminists tend to be leery of sociobiology since it is frequently used to justify existing societal restrictions on women with the assumption that "we evolved that way, so that's just the way it is." Hrdy makes a case that human evolution is not that simple and that recent primate studies challenge the simple assertion that females are non-competitive, interested only in mothering and naturally monogamous. She reports on studies of non-human primates ranging from tree shrews to great apes show more who have a broad range of social structures. Interesting reading. show less

The author sets out to dispel many of the myths surrounding women's biology, using the apes she studies as a guide to where we might be getting things wrong. She notes that for the most part, we have studied male apes and inferred female behavior from that; we have also, she concludes, done the same with human females, regarding human females as just a deviant version of a male. This book attempts to serve as a corrective. Very well written, and one of the few defenses of sociobiology that show more doesn't veer off into nastiness or ugly arguments that favor the author's group above all others. show less

I was working a temporary job at the Cornell Bookstore during their textbook rush when I saw this book. During quiet times I would look through whatever text book caught my interest. This one got me to buy a copy. Hrdy set out to explain how women have always worked in various ways to make sure that their children not only survive, but thrive and rise within their social group. As a consequence of this research, she also clearly shows how mammals, including humans, sometimes ruthlessly, show more decide if an offspring is viable or not and the way they end thier life. This is a clear view of the evolution of motherhood, looking at human female physiology , non-human mammal physiology, history, economics, social evolution and more. Fascinating. show less