A feast for the mind
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94 Vol. 8 Issue 7
A feast for the mind
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Sara Pascoe’s new
book looks at how
different factors
from biology to
the mass media
have influenced
our perception of
female sexualityEXPLORE OUR
INNER ANIMAL
Comedian Sara Pascoe has been thinking about the
essence and origins of female sexuality. She talks to Helen
Pilcher about her new book, Animal
A feast for the mind
Resource
Why did you decide to write this book?
I’ve been interested in the subject for a long time. I’d noticed that
where feminist articles often blame magazines and popular culture
for the way women feel and are treated, the scientific literature
tends to focus more on biology and evolutionary theory. I wanted
to write a book that combines both these angles, alongside my
own personal experiences.There’s a lot of great science in the book. Where does
your passion for science come from?
A big part is from my mum. She’s amazing. She did a PhD in the
genetics of autoimmune disorders while raising three children as
a single parent. She was so excited about how experiments could
be applied to help change people’s lives, and I think some of that
rubbed off on me.How animal are we?
We’re all part animal, part conscious. Writing
Animal has made me realise how much of our
behaviour is underpinned by millions of
years of evolution. It can explain everything
from mating preferences to jealousy and
infidelity. But we’re more than that. We
have these big, crinkly, clever brains that
enable us to consider whether or not we
should act on these animal impulses.
When a dog humps someone’s leg,
it’s not worrying about whether or
not the leg fancies it back, or if the
leg is married or underage. The
dog is just acting on impulse.
We, on the other hand, have
the capacity to understand94 Vol. 8 Issue 7