Let's be honest: when compared to A Billion Wicked Thoughts’ pseudo-science, almost anything looks better by comparison (data mining to support "scientific research"…really?), but Anne Fausto-Sterling’s eloquence does a particularly good job of revealing the more subtle points ABWT tramples over in an attempt to point out the already-obvious. Whereas Ogas and Gaddam feel the need to point out they’re conducting “the world’s largest experiment” in a elephant-hiding-behind-a-bush attempt to make money, Fausto-Sterling quietly backs up her assertions with 200 pages of notes and a well-formatted bibliography—in other words, actual proof.
In case you’re not getting the message here, allow me to be so bold as to whip out another one of my renowned metaphors: say you walk into an ice cream shop. On your left is Ben and Jerry’s Chunky Monkey—velvety smooth banana ice cream surrounded by large chunks of walnut and dark chocolate. Delicious, but intense; I mean, there’s no way you’d ever mistake this stuff for green tea sorbet. On your right is Haagen-Dazs' award-winning vanilla bean. Now, some may call vanilla “boring," but vanilla has just as much to offer as the next flavor—you just have to be willing to take the time and be willing to exert the effort to savor it. Can you guess which flavor is characterizing A Billion Wicked Thoughts and Sexing the Body, respectively?
…I’m not keen on revealing my opinion for Ogas/Gaddam or Fausto-Sterling’s works because I think they hint at two equally important sides of an even more important issue. A person (or, perhaps more apt here, a consumer) may have his or her interest peaked by A Billion Wicked Thoughts only to move on to Sexing the Body at a later point in time—again, the important thing to keep in mind here is that they both play a role in leading to the same core, unifying message. I mean, sometimes you want your vanilla bean, but others…well, I’d be lying to you if I’d say that there haven’t been nights when only Chunky Monkey would do.
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