Sex Is a Spectrum

Agustín Fuentes is professor of anthropology at Princeton University. His books include Race, Monogamy, and Other Lies They Told You: Busting Myths about Human Nature; The Creative Spark: How Imagination Made Humans Exceptional; and Why We Believe: Evolution and the Human Way of Being.

"[A] fascinating book."---Andrew Robinson, Nature --- "For Fuentes, human behaviours and concepts are shaped by biology and culture. We are diverse as a result; when that diversity is ignored it narrows our ability to understand ourselves....The onus is on all who wish to take part in the sex-gender debate to be reminded of what is fact and what is conjecture. [Sex is a Spectrum provides] the facts."---Anna Machin, Times Literary Supplement --- "[Sex is a Spectrum is] bursting with biological complexities, entering into a debate that many...want to inflame with the use of broad brushstrokes."---Javier Salas, El País --- "A timely and valuable contribution. [Sex is a Spectrum] synthesizes research from biology and biological anthropology to argue that from a biological perspective, sex is not binary (male/female) and to assume so is not only bad science but also harmful. The book's strengths include its grounding in evolution and comparative biology, as well as its extensive references to the most recent research on this topic." --- "A timely cri de coeur that seeks to reset the distorted and politicised public discourse about the biology of sex and gender. The book is a zingy, concise exposition of the variation in sexual forms and systems found in the animal world....Fuentes respectfully explains science in plain language to a wider public, presents biological knowledge as one among many sources of sense-making about the world, and recognises biomedical scientists’ responsibility to respond to harmful deployments of inaccurate, overly simplistic, and reductionist science by those attempting to naturalise and depoliticise their hateful views. This interdisciplinary, scientist humanist voice is vital in our time."---Sarah Richardson, The Lancet --- "Fuentes . . . flexes his considerable powers of communication to lay out the argument that human gender cannot be understand as binary. . . . [Sex is a Spectrum] is a highly readable popular science investigation of sex and gender, rich with 'did you know' moments for those who love the extraordinariness of nature and human bodies." --- "Reproductive anatomy is more variable than commonly understood, according to this eye-opening study....The raft of research convincingly debunks the idea that sex anatomy has much consequence on behavior, character, or cognitive ability...and the illuminating discussions of animal biology demonstrate the profound diversity of sex expression in nature.... [Sex is a Spectrum is] a resounding refutation of the idea that there’s anything natural about the gender binary." --- "Fuentes does a good job of summarizing what we know about the evolution of sex.... Sex Is a Spectrum will be important for introducing a wide readership to the nuances of scientific understandings of variability in sex and of the biocultural constitution of humans... there is much for biologists to appreciate in the book as well."---Malin Ah-King, Science --- "

At its heart, Sex Is a Spectrum is not an argument against difference. It is a celebration of diversity—of the subtle, shifting, and beautifully complicated ways we inhabit our bodies and our identities. It doesn’t ask us to reject biology, but to embrace it in its fullest, most generous form. Fuentes has given us more than a book. He’s offered a lens—a way to see ourselves more clearly, and each other more kindly.

"---Lixing Sun, Psychology Today --- "In clear, accessible language, Agustín Fuentes has written The Book explaining the expansiveness of human biology based on scientific evidence and biocultural reality."---Karla J. Strand, Ms. Magazine