"Science has historically depicted female animals, including humans, as coy, passive, elusive, noncompetitive and sexually reserved, in line with societal ideologies about women." How do societal norms influence biological studies - and vice versa?
In her book "The Female Turn" Malin Ah-King confronts evolutionary biology with feminist science studies to discuss how the notion of the history of female animals and their sexuality in evolutionary science is influenced by norms, stereotypes and societal standards. Malin Ah-King will present the theses of the book and show how evolutionary science shifted from perceiving females as coy and passive to being active. How did this new knowledge production come to a start and what took it so long? Drawing on the concept of situated knowledges and the works of feminist science scholars, the book presentation wants to ask why a shift of perception of female animals sexuality took place, how it was influenced and how the perception of animals influences how gender roles in society appear.
Dr. Malin Ah-King is an evolutionary biologist working on gender research in biology at Stockholm University. She has a PhD in zoology, researches mainly on understanding biological sex, and works interdisciplinary between biology and gender studies. Her book "The Female Turn. How Evolutionary Science Shifted Perceptions About Females" came out in 2022 and provides a global overview of shifting perceptions about females in sexual selection research on a wide range of animals, from invertebrates to primates.