SexCult: Sex on Six Legs

A long time ago when I wrote for Glamour magazine I got an assignment to write about "Sexual Selections: What We Can And Can't Learn About Sex From Animals," and interview the author, Marlene Zuk, a biology professor at UC Davis. It's the kind of assignment where you could ask "So....what can and can't we learn about sex from animals?" as though you were boned-up on the subject without actually reading the book, but I did read it, avidly, and loved the way Dr. Zuk made her scientific subject so approachable, like you were just chatting and she'd been meaning to tell you how frequently we misconstrue animal behavior because we're so prone to looking at animals through the filter of our own behavior.

     I've interviewed Marlene several times since, including for my own book Crazy Little Thing: Why Love and Sex Drive Us Mad and recently wrote my  column in SeXis magazine about her most recent work Sex on Six Legs: Lessons on Life, Love and Language from the Insect World. You can read my column here SexCult: Sex on Six Legs. and check out her book at the previous link. You'll never see a bee again without staring at it for a few minutes in utter amazement, wondering where it's going, what it's thinking and if it will remember you.

Comments

  1. Marlene ZukDecember 6, 2011 at 8:50 AM

    Liz, you are the best! Thanks for the promo, and I hope your new book sells millions and millions. I will always remember your interview that included mention of the velour vulva puppet, something I am not sure my university was pleased about putting up on the website when they did their usual "here is a mention of our faculty in the news."

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