I will admit at first I wasn’t sure if I was going to like this book, the fact the sub heading was ‘Autobiography of a female body’ made me wonder if it would be a bit graphic and uncomfortable to read.
I saw Sara Pascoe do a warm up show for Edinburgh and even though she is brutally honest about love, sex and her body I didn’t find her that shocking so asked for the book for my birthday.
I am so glad I did as it is brilliant. I found it really informative which isn’t something I expected.
Sara looks at the evolution of the female body from caveman days to now and how our bodies have had to alter and adapt to our surroundings. Things such as having multiple mates to being monogamous now. Other subjects she covers include falling in love (something she admits to doing a lot) and the scientific element behind it looking at hormones and why our body reacts in the way it does. Basically most of it is down to mating and producing success healthy babies to further the species.
Now I have had a baby but there were things about conception and what happens when the egg is released that I had no idea about, it goes to show how thorough sex education in the late 90s early 00s was. I found it a fascinating read with information about how we got the legal age of consent of 16 in this country and also stories from Sara’s own life mixing her wit and storytelling.
I really think that everyone should read it male and female as I learnt a lot, which I am ashamed to say as a woman, part of me wants to go as far as to say that it should be available to teenagers in secondary schools. Sara discusses losing her virginity, getting pregnant and having an abortion with such honesty it is refreshing and a real eye opener.
Sara has been really clever with this book mixing humour, fact, historical information and her own stories to create a truly entertaining and informative read. Like I said everyone should read it.
You can find more information about the book and Sara here
Charlotte Harding 