Testosterone, Rebecca M. JordanYoung
Testosterone, Rebecca M. JordanYoung
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Testosterone
An Unauthorized Biography

Author: Rebecca M. Jordan-Young, Katrina Karkazis

Narrator: Emily Durante

Unabridged: 11 hr 19 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 11/19/2019


Synopsis

Testosterone is a familiar villain, a ready explanation for innumerable social phenomena, from the stock market crash and the overrepresentation of men in prisons to male dominance in business and politics. It's a lot to pin on a simple molecule.

Yet your testosterone level doesn't in fact predict your competitive drive or tendency for violence, your appetite for risk or sex, or your strength or athletic prowess. It's neither the biological essence of manliness nor even "the male sex hormone." This unauthorized biography pries T, as it's known, loose from over a century of misconceptions that undermine science even as they make urban legends about this hormone seem scientific.

T's story didn't spring from nature: it is a tale that began long before the hormone was even isolated, when nineteenth-century scientists went looking for the chemical essence of masculinity. And so this molecule's outmoded, authorized life story persisted, providing a handy rationale for countless behaviors—from the boorish and the belligerent to the exemplary and enviable. Rebecca Jordan-Young and Katrina Karkazis focus on what T does in six domains: reproduction, aggression, risk-taking, power, sports, and parenting. At once arresting and deeply informed, Testosterone allows us to see the real T for the first time.

About Rebecca M. Jordan-Young

Rebecca M. Jordan-Young is a sociomedical scientist whose research has been supported by grants from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the National Science Foundation, and others. Jordan-Young is professor of women's, gender, and sexuality studies at Barnard College, Columbia University, and recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship. Her writing has appeared in top science journals (Nature, Trends in Cognitive Sciences), the New York Times, and the Guardian.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Alok on April 24, 2021

Humans are extraordinarily complex and diverse. We should be skeptical of simple narratives promoting “biological truth” about “human nature.” When it comes to conversations about biological sex people often rely on gender stereotypes, not empirical data. In their research, Dr. Karkazis and Dr. Jord......more

Goodreads review by FlyingBulgarian on January 13, 2020

I am with other reviewers who are slightly disappointed with the book. I agree that some of the chapters felt unfounded in science and their comparisons and arguments weak. But I was drawn to the book for one chapter only, which was about testosterone’s role in the female reproductive system - and f......more

Goodreads review by Ali on December 07, 2019

"T is not, at root, evolution’s proximate mechanism for generating either masculinity or heteronormative coupling. It’s a transcendent, multipurpose hormone that has been adapted for a huge array of uses in virtually all bodies" Sometimes when I start a review, I comment that the book was a different......more

Goodreads review by L. on July 20, 2022

This book is extremely interesting in its methodological criticisms and reflections on the current scientific work on testosterone. The authors debunk pervasive zombie facts and highlight the complexity and difficulty of adequately researching testosterone.......more

Goodreads review by Richard on July 21, 2022

There's a whole lot of debunking going on in this book. Testosterone isn't really the male sex hormone. It has some function with building strength and aggression, but not always. It's connection to athleticism is varied. It plays a critical role for women in ovulation. A lot of the classic studies......more