Promotions - Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles 2023 -

Clancy (Univ. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign) offers a well-written, interdisciplinary exposition of menstruation. As an anthropologist well versed in biology, she provides an accurate account of the biology and experiences of menstruating people in society. Challenging received ideas of "normal" menstruation, she argues that females are led to believe their varied experiences are abnormal and should be hidden, whereas they are probably within normal variation and should be openly discussed. Clancy argues more generally that people often believe they are personally responsible for issues caused by structural problems in society. In addition to sex and sexuality, she also addresses gender, race, and disability. Drawing on evolutionary biology, societal views of menstruation, experimental research, psychology, and personal experience, the author explores the intersection between society and health, challenging conventional wisdom about women's health and summarizing the history of menstruation research, questioning the acceptance of knowledge obtained by primarily white males for understanding the biology of diverse people who menstruate. Readers learn basic concepts in metabolism, exercise physiology, immunology, and stress biology, and how they are connected with menstruation, as well as how environmental health may affect menstrual health. This accessible overview of basic biological topics and complex interdependent systems is appropriate for both science and non-science majors and likely to interest general readers.Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readers.