Bull

The Great Masculinity Myth

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In Bull, zoologist Lucy Cooke embarks on a bold and revelatory journey to explore what it truly means to be male in the animal kingdom.

For too long survival of the fittest has been taken at face value, male success defined in terms of strength, size, virility, fighting other males and dominance over females. But countering this stubbornly one-dimensional view, drawing on ground-breaking field research, Cooke reveals a far more nuanced picture, challenging the hyper-masculine stereotypes that have long dominated our understanding.

Through captivating stories, Cooke opens our eyes to an astonishing variety of male success strategies: meet the gay vultures and devoted wolf dads, happily ‘cuckolded’ silverback gorillas and cross-dressing ruffs, brotherhoods of bisexual monkeys and mummies' boy bonobos, clown fish that queue decades to mate and slinky ‘sneaky fucker’ elephant seals that dodge the fight entirely to win females.

Full of colour and deeply important, Cooke shines a light on the full spectrum of masculinity to show it's not always size or strength that matters for male success, but connection, cooperation, and collaboration.

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Praise for Lucy Cooke's previous book, Bitch

'From the heir to Attenborough. 5*' - Telegraph

'Brilliant ... Cooke is a superb science writer' TLS

'Bitch is a blast. I read it, my jaw sagging in astonishment' Observer

'A bold and gripping takedown of the sexist mythology baked into biology' Guardian

'Colourful, committed and deeply informed.' Sunday Times

'Gloriously original' Daily Mirror

A 'sparkling attack on scientific sexism' Nature

About Lucy Cooke

Lucy Cooke is a fellow of Durham University, a National Geographic explorer, TED talker and award-winning broadcaster with a Masters in zoology from New College Oxford, where she studied under Richard Dawkins.
Her first book A Little Book of Sloth was a New York Times bestseller and spawned a major TV series for Discovery and a BBC Radio 4 documentary. The Truth About Animals, her first long-form book was shortlisted for the Royal Society prize and has been translated into nineteen languages. Her most recent book, Bitch: What Does it Mean to be Female? was cited as one of the best books of the year by both the Telegraph and the Guardian and was adapted into the BBC Radio 4 series, Political Animals.
She is a columnist for BBC Wildlife Magazine and has also written for the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, the Guardian, The Times, Telegraph and New Scientist amongst other publications. She is a sought-after public speaker and has written, produced, and presented documentaries for the BBC, Channel 4, National Geographic, Animal Planet and Discovery. She has presented on the BBC’s ‘Springwatch’ and is a regular on BBC Radio 4.

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