A provocative, boundary-pushing book for readers of Cat Bohannon's Eve and Caroline Criado-Perez' Invisible Women.
Strength & Power examines the myths and shatters our misconceptions relating to the ingrained belief that still very much holds sway today: men are physically stronger than women. In fact, it seems that there's little evidence to support this proposition. Here, science writer Starre Vartan looks at the actual data, the history of "male only" baselines in past studies, and the extensive body of current research that proves that women aren't weaker. In fact, women's muscles retain strength over time better than men's; women's fat and metabolism are huge advantages for any pursuit that requires endurance and the biology of women's brains makes them far more resilient in the face of stress.
The bottom line is that men's bodies are generally good at certain physical pursuits, while women's are generally better at others. But how you get from there to the idea that men are overall stronger? That is the crux of this challenging and provocative book that will draw on cutting-edge studies and touch on a wide range of topics: women's athletic training, women's performance in long-distance events across multiple sporting disciplines, women's longevity, the role that menstruation, hormones and distribution of body fat play in women's physical power and, of course, the profound cultural influences that have long governed society's view of women's physical capabilities.
'Fun, rooted in science... May this book give all women strength for the times we now live in.' Cat Bohannon
A myth-busting vindication of women's physical strengths
For decades, Starre Vartan - like most women - was told that having a woman's body meant being weaker than men. Like many women, she mostly believed it.
Not anymore.
Following a half decade of research into the newest science, Vartan shows in The Stronger Sex that women's bodies are incredibly powerful, flexible, and resilient in ways men's bodies aren't. Tossing aside the narrow notion of the tall, muscular man as the measure of strength, Vartan reveals the ways that women surpass men in endurance, flexibility, immunity, pain tolerance, and the ultimate test of any human body: longevity.
In interviews with dozens of researchers from biology, anthropology, physiology, and sports science, plus in-depth conversations with runners, swimmers, wrestlers, woodchoppers, thru-hikers, firefighters, and more, The Stronger Sex squashes outdated ideas about women's bodies.
It's a celebration of female strength that doesn't argue "down with men" but "up with us all."
