GLR January-February 2026

for small gametes in a process that could be called “virgin birth.” Then there are earthworms, all of which develop func tioning testes and ovaries such that fertilization can occur with the mutual exchange of sperm between two individuals. In “Humans Then,” the author delves into human evolution and our resemblance to other primates. He points out that, like our distant primate cousins, we have large, complicated brains and lives centered around social relationships, in which infants are often a center of focus because they need so much care. And because of our focus on social interaction, what we think of as “sexual” interaction is not simply based on a biological drive to reproduce. In the chapter “Humans Now,” Fuentes refers to “3G males” and “3G females” as categories in which the genes, gonads, and genitals of individuals seem to be consistent. He explains that the gender of a baby that is assigned at birth is usually based on the appearance of genitals, which may be inconsistent with the other G’s. The physical transformation of puberty is described in detail, especially in terms of the production of estrogen (the “female” hormone) and testosterone (the “male” hormone), though all humans produce both in different quantities. Intrigu ingly, he notes that testosterone levels, widely thought of as the essence of maleness, often respond to external stimuli rather than being consistent from birth. In “No Biological Battle of the Sexes,” Fuentes clinches his central thesis, that any assumption of a gender binary is an over simplification of reality. He regards such thinking as harmful to the accumulation of scientific knowledge and to the kind of human interaction that seems to be a defining feature of our species. The information in this book can be used in a fight against gender essentialism or any of its misbegotten offshoots: machismo, misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, et al. Even if you are not arming yourself for an ideological war, you could read Sex Is a Spectrum for its entertainment value. This reviewer is especially charmed by an image of lactating “male” fruit bats, but your preference may vary. _________________________________________________________________ Jean Roberta is a widely published writer based in Regina, Canada.

Catherine Opie. Self-Portrait/Cutting , 1993.

Senator Jesse Helms and his ilk, but it also challenged anti-porn stalwarts and queer assimilationists. Since then, she has focused her lenses on numerous subcul tures, urban architecture, political rallies, and landscapes, even shooting Elizabeth Taylor’s personal effects. Her creations are col lected and shown worldwide. Despite her often flamboyant con tent, Opie calls herself a “formalist” inspired by the Renaissance portraiture of 16th-century German-Swiss painter Hans Holbein. In 2024, the Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateau briand presented Opie’s first solo exhibition in Brazil, titled Genre/Gender/Portraiture , as part of a year devoted to queer histories, including the work of Francis Bacon and the AIDS activist collective Gran Fury. The exhibition catalog, edited by curators Adriano Pedrosa and Guilherme Giufrida, explores Opie’s painterly influences by juxtaposing 66 of her photo graphs (taken between 1987 and 2022) with 21 oil portraits by Holbein, Gauguin, van Gogh, Rembrandt, and other great painters from the museum’s collection. This curatorial conceit highlighted the opulence of Opie’s composition as well as her cornucopia of unsanctioned queer desire. The exhibition featured color-saturated prints of actor Elliot Page, singer Justin Vivian Bond, swimmer Diana Nyad, and performance artist Ron Athey, along with less formal black-and whites from Opie’s Girlfriends series. Nyad’s muscular, sun burnished nude backside was exhibited alongside a Renoir and Bond’s demure headshot paired with a Modigliani. Leather “gendernauts” and drag kings were amply represented in im ages replete with tattoos, piercings, fake mustaches, costumes, and fetish gear. These were intermingled with photos of settled lesbian couples at home. Aristocratic renderings by van Dyck, Rubens, Velázquez, and Manet accompanied them. g

Confrontational Butch

J OHN R. K ILLACKY

CATHERINE OPIE Genre/Gender/Portraiture Edited by Adriano Pedrosa and Guilherme Giufrida MASP/KMEC. 176 pages, $45. A MID THE ANTI-LGBT culture wars of the 1990s, pho tographer Catherine Opie came to national prominence with a series of images depicting leather dykes and self portraits featuring cutting and piercing, putting her in the pan theon of late 20th-century queer art photographers who extend from Robert Mapplethorpe’s erotic deviance to Nan Goldin’s diaristic slideshows. Opie’s iconography defied the prevailing censorship of provocative—and especially queer—art led by

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