Episode 43: Unlocking the mysteries of the female body: An evolutionary perspective. With Dr. Deena Emera.
What’s the story of the women’s bodies? And what can the evolutionary biology of the female body teach us about our health, agency, and creative power? The functions of the female body have always been shroud in mysteries, and often myths and misconceptions. As our understanding of our own anatomy and physiology evolves we still have such big questions such as why do women go through menopause? Why do we have periods unlike other mammals? What’s the function of the female orgasm? Why are we in the midst of a fertility crisis? And why is reproductive choice a vital instinct?
In this episode of The Soft Rebellion, evolutionary biologist, author, and teacher Dr. Deena Emera joins me to explore exactly that: The mysteries of the female body through an evolutionary lens. Her research on the biology of pregnancy in mammals and the deep history of our female bodies reveals powerful insights into how we can better understand and reclaim our innate feminine wisdom.
Talking to Deena expanded what the Soft Rebellion means (to me) so much: The Soft Rebellion is she who knows that her body is her own, she who knows its power, she who knows that reproductive choice is at the core of being a female mammal and a deeply ingrained and vital instinct.
This episode is for you if you are ready to let the ancient science and evolutionary biology of the female bod, change your view and experience of your own body, and to follow its invitation to slow down in a world where we are caught in a struggle between our bodies and cultural evolution.
In this conversation we talked about:
Deena’s journey to dedicating her life’s work to study the evolutionary biology of the female body, unlock its powerful mysteries and share her work with the world.
Deena’s research about the evolution of pregnancy in mammals, how studying our evolutionary history can change our understanding health and disease and what this lens taught Deena about mothering and the meaning of motherhood.
The cultural vs. biological evolution of the female body and why this tension shapes our modern experience of health and wellness, we explored reproductive choice as an essential act of female agency, rooted in the evolutionary biology of mammals, and why it’s at the core of women’s fight for bodily autonomy.
About Deena:
Deena Emera, PhD, is an evolutionary biologist, author, and teacher. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Integrative Biology from UC Berkeley, a master’s degree in Physical Anthropology from NYU, and a PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Yale. She currently serves as a senior scientist at the Buck Institute’s Buck Center for Healthy Aging in Women. Her current work is focused on the genetic basis of reproductive longevity in mammals. In her recent book A Brief History of the Female Body, Deena draws on her expertise as a biologist and experience as a mother of four to explore the mysteries of the female body through an evolutionary lens.