Kicking Darwin to the Curb

[William769]

It takes a brave woman to question the century-old theories of Charles Darwin, but evolutionary biologist Joan Roughgarden doesn’t hold back. Spurred in part by the stunning diversity of people she saw at an LGBT Pride parade in the ‘90s, Roughgarden spent years debunking Darwin’s theories. Her audacious attack became the groundbreaking and brilliant tome, Evolution’s Rainbow: Diversity, Gender and Sexuality in Nature and People, in which the scientist argued that the diversity of gender and sexuality found in many species suggests that Darwin was wrong about sexual selection and the gender binary.

Roughgarden, a Professor Emerita at Stanford University, has authoredfive books and over 120 articles, including her critically acclaimed The Genial Gene:Deconstructing Darwinian Selfishness. The Harvard-trained Roughgarden, who taught at Stanford for nearly 40 years, didn’t come out as transgender until she was well into her career.

You didn’t come out until you were 52. Were you worried about the impact on your career?
Yes, of course I was worried. I was fully prepared to leave academia and wait on tables for a living if necessary. None other than Condolezza Rice, then provost at Stanford, gave me permission to remain on the faculty.

Evolution’s Rainbow was so groundbreaking and definitely controversial. Did you expect the criticism you got? Is Darwin above reproach in scientific circles?
I did not expect the homophobic and personally disrespectful comments from professional biologists. And yes, Darwin is beyond reproach in scientific circles.

http://www.advocate.com/News/News_Features/Gender_Diversity,_Evolution_and_Kicking_Darwin_to_the_Curb/

[joeybee12]

1. Sorry, gotta unrec...Stanford is not known for intellectual strength, just

stupidty...this is really a misinterpretation of Darwin's theory. She's not brave, but really, really dumb.

[William769]

2. I just posted to see what people had to say.

This subject matter is not my forte & with the way my brain works now with all my meds that I take things get muddled.

Thanks for your input.

[joeybee12]

4. No problem...I have no problem with 99% of what people post...

this is interesting in the sense to see what's out there. Anyway, my unrec was not that you posted it, but because of what this person has supposedly "researched."

[MNBrewer]

3. Another unrec

I'm a gay man who got his Ph.D. studying evolution of a group of fungi. I'd say she has a fairly shallow grasp of evolutionary theory, and should be dismissed as a crackpot.