The Stronger Sex: What Science Tells Us About the Power of the Female Body

by Starre Vartan

A myth-busting vindication of women’s physical strengths

For decades, Starre Vartan—like most women—was told that having a woman’s body meant being weaker than men. Like many women, she mostly believed it.  

Not anymore.  

Following a half decade of research into the newest science, Vartan shows in The Stronger Sex that women’s bodies are incredibly powerful, flexible, and resilient in ways men’s bodies aren’t. Tossing aside the narrow notion of a fully ripped man as the measure of strength, Vartan reveals the ways that women surpass men in endurance, flexibility, immunity, pain tolerance, and the ultimate test of any human longevity. Vartan—a deadeye shot since her grandmother showed her how to aim a .22—debunks myth after myth like so many tin cans at two hundred yards and reveals why, if anyone wins in a battle of the sexes, it’s women. 

In interviews with dozens of researchers from biology, anthropology, physiology, and sports science, plus in-depth conversations with runners, swimmers, wrestlers, woodchoppers, thru-hikers, firefighters, and more, The Stronger Sex squashes outdated ideas about women’s bodies. It’s a celebration of female strength that doesn’t argue “down with men” but “up with us all.”  

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Feminism, Womens, Nature

384 pages, Hardcover

Published July 15, 2025

Reviews

[Taylor Franson-Thiel · Rating 5 out of 5]

In kindergarten, I remember trying to play basketball with boys at recess. I was a head taller than all of them, and had been playing basketball since I could walk (legacy child with two hooper parents). I remember when they laughed at me and said girls didn’t play basketball. I remember when a boy dumped me because I could lift more than him. I remember when, on a first date, I beat a boy playing basketball one on one and never heard from him again afterwards. I remember being a D1 hooper (screw you recess boys I got paid to hoop for 5 years) and seeing empty stands and busting my ass for hours on the daily only to have intramural boys tell me they could probably beat me at literally everything (they couldn’t).

Needless to say, I was primed to read this, and I loved every second of it. This is an amazing amazing read.


***

This was a delightfully readable, well researched, nonfiction work on the female body and the nuances of its strengths.

I just think Vartan is nailing this on so many levels.
-great engaging writing
-deeply researched (536 sources) and verifiable claims
(ALSO acknowledging when the research isn’t solid yet!!! So good!!!!)
(Except for using “blue-zone” research as fact since I was under the impression that has largely been debunked…?)
-balances (really the best I’ve seen this done) gender identity with biological sex in an inclusive and nuanced way. Most researchers say “trans people are legit but for science I’m just gonna talk about the binary” and Vartan really pushed back against that in interesting ways.
-balanced compelling narrative with research making this really easy to flow through
-a lil spicy and snarky when need be

My fav moments include:
-revolutionary looks into the menstrual cycle (literally what????)
-how sick (as in awesome) the uterine lining is
-learning how many sports used to be coed until women started winning in them
-KORFBALL!!!!

This feels like a ~finally~ for someone who has been involved in the female athletics world for decades. The research is finally catching up to what we women know. Women are strong as hell, and how we define strength has too often been framed by what men think and what men can do.

Thank you to NetGalley, Basic Books, and Seal Press for the eARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own

[Kate Laycoax · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Stronger Sex by Starre Vartan is a powerful, myth busting deep dive into the resilience, endurance, and undeniable strength of women’s bodies. For too long, society has equated physical strength with brute force, dismissing the biological and physiological advantages that make women uniquely powerful. Vartan shatters these outdated notions, weaving together cutting edge research, expert interviews, and compelling real life stories to prove that when it comes to endurance, pain tolerance, immunity, and even longevity, women most certainly come out on top.

As a woman, I was immediately drawn to this book because I know we are powerful, but seeing the science laid out so clearly was both validating and empowering. I felt this same surge of confidence watching the Olympics this past summer—seeing female athletes dominate, push boundaries, and prove time and time again that we are the strongest. That feeling has stuck with me, and The Stronger Sex reinforced it even more. Reading this book made me want to stand a little taller, embrace the strength I already know I have, and celebrate the incredible capabilities of women everywhere.

One of the book’s biggest strengths is how it balances hard science with engaging storytelling. Vartan’s interviews with researchers across disciplines—from sports science to anthropology—add weight to her arguments, while firsthand accounts from athletes, firefighters, and adventurers bring the data to life. Whether she’s discussing the science behind pain tolerance, the adaptability of female bodies, or the history of why these strengths have been overlooked, Vartan makes a compelling case that strength isn’t just about muscle mass, but how it’s about survival, resilience, and adaptation.

This isn’t a “battle of the sexes” book; it’s a celebration of what makes women’s bodies extraordinary. Instead of pitting men and women against each other, The Stronger Sex challenges outdated ideas and uplifts a more inclusive, science backed definition of strength. Whether you’re an athlete, a science enthusiast, or simply someone who’s tired of hearing that women are the "weaker sex," this book is an empowering and eye opening read.

Thank you to NetGalley, Starre Vartan, and Seal Press for the eARC of this book.

[Sol · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Girls and women are still trained as 'smaller men' due to a lack of exercise science covering female bodies. Combine that with the fact that girls largely don't engage in certain types of sports altogether - like football and wrestling (until very recently) - due to assumptions about what girls can and should do physically, and we arrive at a sports landscape with less competition, lower stakes, poorer training and less financial and moral support"

This was a great and fascinating read. Women are supposedly weaker but what sort of standards are we measuring women against? Why are men the gold standard for comparison?

Are men really stronger when most of the research that has been done in sports is in men?
- " Historically, just 6 percent of sports research has looked at female bodies exclusively"

Why are women better at endurance sports?
- Fat keeps women going when the carb supply drops off. That's obviously useful in any activity where muscles need power over the long haul"

If you want to ponder and answer these questions then you want to pick up and read this book!

[claudesbookcase · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for giving me this arc :)
As a fan of women’s sports and medical nonfiction, this book was right up my alley. While super packed with citations, it still feels like a quick read (the last 25% is acknowledgments, notes, bibliography, etc) the book does a good job of combining research data, interviews with experts, and interviews with athletes, both professional and recreational.
I definitely recommend this book!
4 stars

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

** I received an advanced copy of this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This book is scheduled to be published on July 15, 2025 in the US. **

As an athletic girl, it's been my experience, like so many others, to be not taken seriously, bullied out of a sport or sporting event, and constantly told by men that I am less, weaker, and do not belong. Imagine my delight and excitement when I received the ARC of this book. Studies and findings that highlight the many ways the female human body is extraordinary and well suited to so many things it's constantly being cited as ‘too weak’ for. Our longevity, fantastic immunities, and durability! Additionally, everything is wonderfully cited so that you can peruse at the end for further reading on topics that especially interest you.

I am renewed with hope for the steps we are taking to more fully learn how our bodies differ in regards to how medication and healthcare work for us! I appreciated this book for the many examples provided of women in sports of all kinds to illustrate its points.

[Andrea Wenger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Challenging outdated beliefs, this book uses science and expert interviews to reveal the incredible strength, resilience, and longevity of women’s bodies, celebrating female power without diminishing men.

This eye-opening book is a must-read, especially for parents of young girls. It stresses the importance of teaching pre-pubescent girls to engage in the same sorts of physical play that boys do if they’re to reach the full potential of their capabilities. It’s encouraging to learn how powerful female bodies can be if we don’t teach girls to be weak. The book is compelling and easy to read.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

[Starre Vartan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my book! I'm unabashedly giving it 5 stars because I spent over two years researching its content full-time and I'm just awfully proud of that, and so thrilled to share the work of so many incredible researchers and scientists and experts--and regular women who are pushing the boundaries if what we've been told female bodies are capable of.

[Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

V interesting. Lots of footnotes. "All her [Sophia Nimphius] work pointed to the idea that the huge disparities in training and funding, combined with differing lifetime experiences of doing a sport, impacted male versus female athletes' achievements. To discount those factors, she argued, was to ignore too many influences on athletic performance."

[Geof Sage · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5, rounded down. When I read an excerpt (Slate, maybe?) it seemed like it would be more social/cultural history/sociology instead of like 85% exercise science, which I am substantially less enthralled by.

Also, the writer was extra millennial and she wrote like it and my generation already makes me cringe enough without putting it down on paper.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

very interesting book. loved all aspects about women it covered. learned a lot. little depressing talking about women's pain and health care in the middle of the book, but just as it's all true and things I don't like to think about as it makes me sad. but overall very inspiring book and is changing the way i think while partipating in severall sports.

[Allie Kinlaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book, and all the topics it covered! As a D1 collegiate distance runner, I found so many aspects of the book fascinating, and I was able to relate to so much at a very personal level. I lent the book to my coach, and she finds so much value in the strength of the female body and what women are capable of in the sport. Highly recommend, the book is both unique and informational in an exciting way.

[Jean Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book with a very approachable narrative style. I hope a certain U.S. representative from Massachusetts reads it so he can get over having to protect his girls and instead fights for equality in sports (and all things) and funding for scientific research that considers hormonal difference instead of controlling for it.

[Jung]

The premise of "The Stronger Sex: What Science Tells Us about the Power of the Female Body" by Starre Vartan sounds promising at first glance: a bold challenge to the stereotypes surrounding women and physical strength. The book sets out to dismantle assumptions about what strength really means and who embodies it. Unfortunately, while the topic itself is intriguing and timely, the execution leaves a lot to be desired. The author appears more interested in pushing a narrative than presenting a truly nuanced discussion, and this makes the book feel uneven and repetitive rather than groundbreaking.

The opening chapters attempt to make the case that society has long misunderstood strength by defining it too narrowly. Vartan argues that physical strength is often associated exclusively with muscular power, favoring men in this context, while other forms of strength - such as endurance, resilience, and adaptability - have been overlooked. While this observation isn’t entirely wrong, it isn’t particularly original either. Numerous articles, studies, and discussions have touched on this subject before, so the reader is left wondering what new perspective this book offers. Sadly, the answer is: not much. The author frequently reiterates the same point in slightly different words, making the first section feel unnecessarily stretched out.

As the book moves forward, Vartan leans heavily on scientific studies to support her arguments. This would be commendable if the evidence was presented in a clear, unbiased way. Instead, the references often feel cherry-picked to support a predetermined conclusion. The author rarely engages with studies that might complicate her narrative or present an alternative viewpoint. For instance, when discussing pain tolerance and endurance in women, the book cites examples that favor the idea that women outperform men in these areas but conveniently glosses over evidence to the contrary. This selective approach undermines the credibility of the entire argument and makes it feel less like science and more like advocacy dressed up as research.

Another significant problem is the way the book handles biology. While Vartan attempts to highlight the strengths inherent in the female body, she does so in a way that feels forced and, at times, simplistic. She frequently frames women as biologically superior in specific contexts without acknowledging the complexity of genetics, environment, and individual variability. Statements that imply women are categorically stronger in certain ways feel almost as reductive as the stereotypes the book claims to dismantle. Rather than exploring the nuances of strength in a balanced way, the author seems intent on flipping the script entirely, positioning women as the 'stronger sex' without sufficient depth or caution.

The writing style does little to rescue the content. The tone tries to strike a balance between conversational and authoritative, but often comes across as uneven. At times, the language feels overly casual for a book that purports to rely on science, which weakens the sense of authority. In other places, the text is bogged down by jargon and dense explanations that aren’t particularly engaging. This inconsistency makes the book difficult to read in one sitting and frustrating to follow. It feels like the book can’t decide whether it wants to be a popular science title or an opinion piece, and as a result, it doesn’t fully succeed as either.

The anecdotes sprinkled throughout the book are meant to humanize the science and make the concepts relatable, but they rarely add real value. Many of them feel random or disconnected from the broader argument, serving more as filler than as meaningful illustrations. The narrative jumps from scientific studies to personal stories without a smooth flow, leaving the reader with the impression of a fragmented structure rather than a cohesive argument. By the time you reach the halfway point, the sense of repetition becomes hard to ignore. The same themes are revisited over and over, just packaged slightly differently each time.

One of the more frustrating aspects of the book is its tendency to oversell its own significance. The title promises revelations about the power of the female body, yet most of the information provided is already widely known or accessible through a quick online search. Discussions about women’s endurance in ultramarathons, higher pain thresholds, and hormonal advantages in certain contexts have been widely covered elsewhere. The book fails to present these facts in a particularly fresh or thought-provoking way, making the reading experience underwhelming. It feels like the book could have been condensed into a well-written article or essay rather than stretched into a full-length title.

While the book does touch on important cultural issues - such as how society undervalues traits like resilience and caregiving compared to brute strength - it doesn’t explore these ideas with enough depth to make a lasting impact. Instead of providing a thorough critique of cultural norms and their consequences, the text often settles for easy assertions and surface-level commentary. This lack of depth makes the book feel like a missed opportunity. It could have been a serious examination of how gendered perceptions of strength shape everything from sports to healthcare, but instead, it reads like an extended op-ed.

By the time the conclusion arrives, it’s difficult to feel impressed or enlightened. The book ends by reiterating its central claim - that women possess unique strengths that deserve recognition - but this feels anticlimactic because the argument never really evolved throughout the chapters. What starts as an intriguing premise ultimately fails to deliver meaningful insights or a truly balanced discussion. Instead, it offers a repetitive and somewhat preachy take on a topic that deserved a more thoughtful treatment.

In the end, "The Stronger Sex: What Science Tells Us about the Power of the Female Body" is a book that overpromises and underdelivers. While its intentions may be admirable, the execution is flawed by selective evidence, a lack of nuance, and an overly simplistic framing of complex issues. Rather than breaking new ground, it mostly recycles familiar ideas without adding much substance or originality. For readers looking for a rigorous, engaging exploration of gender and strength, this book will likely disappoint. It is not without its interesting moments, but those are few and far between, and they are buried under layers of repetition and rhetorical overreach. Ultimately, the book feels less like a revelation and more like a missed opportunity to spark a deeper and more balanced conversation on what it truly means to be strong.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 rounded up. Truly engaging book that changed my ways of thinking about gendered bodies. Highly recommended!

[Michele · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned a lot from this book and recommend it if this is a topic of interest to you. This is a topic I am following closely these days - strength and longevity, with a focus on women because, as Stacy Sim’s asserts, “Women are not small men”.

More specifically, what is it about? I’m sick so don’t have the mental capacity to summarize it well. To quote a review found online, “Following a half decade of research into the newest science, Vartan shows in The Stronger Sex that women''s bodies are incredibly powerful, flexible, and resilient in ways men''s bodies aren''t. Tossing aside the narrow notion of the tall, muscular man as the measure of strength, Vartan reveals the ways that women surpass men in endurance, flexibility, immunity, pain tolerance, and the ultimate test of any human body: longevity.

In interviews with dozens of researchers from biology, anthropology, physiology, and sports science, plus in-depth conversations with runners, swimmers, wrestlers, woodchoppers, thru-hikers, firefighters, and more, The Stronger Sex squashes outdated ideas about women''s bodies.” (Antoineonline.com)

I wondered if this would be too much of a feminist manifesto when I started it. There is a lot about the patriarchy, but it has not served women well. Medicine has been influenced by the patriarchy as well, going all the way back to Hippocrates who saw women as “weaker, slower, smaller versions of the male ideal, deficient and defective precisely because of their difference to men”(p57, a quote from Elinor Cleghorn).

Endurance is one of our superpowers thanks to our bodies experiencing less muscle breakdown then men after the same exercises, the preferential use of slow-burning fats over fast-burning carbohydrates, and more slow-twitch muscles that take longer to fatigue.

Immunity as well. We have “immunologically evolved to out-mutate men”(p243, a quote from Sharon Moalem). We fight infections better than men. Quoting a paper by 3 scientists, “Estradiol supports immune system modulation, amplifying innate and humoral immune responses, whereas testosterone is overall an immunosuppressant”(p260). Hormone levels, and those vary greatly by individual, so the author advocates for testing hormone levels before vaccinations and even tailoring vaccinations for men vs women because our immune responses vary so greatly. Women often receive too much vaccine.

Longevity is yet another super power. Women have always outlived men, even before the advent of modern medicine. There are “deep evolutionary roots to the male disadvantage” (p273, a quote from Susan Alberts, a professor at Duke).

I found this book on the library’s new nonfiction shelf, and otherwise might not have heard of it. Shout out to NOLS and their excellent catalog.

[J Kromrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this eARC.

💪 Starre Vartan’s The Stronger Sex is a myth-busting, deeply researched exploration of the female body’s resilience, adaptability, and misunderstood power. Blending evolutionary biology, sports science, and cultural history, Vartan dismantles the long-held narrative of women as the “weaker sex” and replaces it with a compelling, evidence-based portrait of strength in its most expansive form.

Vartan’s central thesis is clear: women’s bodies outperform men’s in crucial ways—immunity, flexibility, endurance, pain tolerance, and longevity. Drawing on studies from sports medicine, anthropology, and physiology, she shows how female bodies are not only biologically robust but also evolutionarily optimized for survival and adaptation.

She challenges the narrow metrics by which strength is traditionally measured—bench presses, sprint times, brute force—and instead highlights the overlooked dimensions of physical power. From menstruation’s metabolic demands to the immune system’s superior response, Vartan reframes strength as a multifaceted, dynamic trait.

Vartan writes with clarity and conviction, weaving her own experiences—growing up with a squirrel-hunting grandmother and navigating a world of gendered expectations—into the scientific narrative. Her tone is assertive but never alienating, making complex research accessible without oversimplifying.

The book’s structure is clean and thematic, with each chapter tackling a different domain of female strength. Vartan’s ability to synthesize data with cultural insight makes the book both intellectually rigorous and emotionally resonant.

🧩 One of the book’s most powerful arguments is that female bodies have been historically understudied and misrepresented in science. Vartan exposes how medical research, athletic training, and even evolutionary theory have centered male norms, often to the detriment of women’s health and performance.

She also explores how cultural narratives—beauty standards, gender roles, and media portrayals—have shaped perceptions of female strength. The result is a call not just for scientific reevaluation, but for cultural reimagining.

The Stronger Sex is a bold, necessary contribution to the conversation about gender, biology, and power. Starre Vartan delivers a book that is both scientifically grounded and culturally urgent, offering readers a new lens through which to understand the female body—not as a deviation from the norm, but as a model of resilience and complexity.

For anyone interested in science, feminism, or the future of health equity, this is essential reading.

[Steve · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book aims to challenge traditional notions of gender and strength, arguing that societal conditioning, rather than biology, largely shapes perceived differences in physical capability between men and women. While the book raises thought-provoking points about nurture versus nature, some arguments, particularly the suggestion that raising girls as boys would result in equivalent physical strength, seem overly simplistic and unconvincing. This claim overlooks biological factors, such as muscle mass distribution and hormonal influences, which play significant roles in physical performance.

Vartan’s assertion that gender-neutral upbringing could erase strength disparities leads to an intriguing, if exaggerated, implication: if girls were raised with the same expectations as boys, we might see twice as many people equipped for physically demanding tasks like roofing, ditch digging, or frontline guerrilla warfare and NFL running backs. While this highlights the potential for cultural shifts to unlock greater female participation in such roles, it downplays practical realities—biological differences and individual aptitude vary widely, regardless of upbringing.

Overall, The Strong Sex sparks discussion but stumbles with idealistic arguments that lack nuance. It’s a bold read for those interested in gender dynamics, but don’t expect airtight reasoning.

[R. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an absolute must read for anybody who is curious about the truth of our human bodies. Starre is able to approach the female body in soft way that has you immediately emotional at being seen and heard. It is extremely well written and every question popping up in your head, is literally answered the next page. I cannot help but wonder why not the entire world is screaming about the knowledge brought together in this book. This book alone can and should be supporting a paradigm shift about female power and capabilities. Starre has done the work, that most have been reluctant or uninterested in doing and it is a true gift. Finally an accurate overview of the power of the female body!

Side note: while the binary ideals of gender are incredibly persistent in our society, Starre does her absolute best at offering a well rounded critique, not just at the start of the book, but throughout all the pages. Empowering both cis women, trans women and gender diverse people all at once.

[Avid · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book arrives at a time when debates about gender, definition of genders, sports, and fairness are heated and people seemed to be divided with their differing opinions. Vartan presents a well-researched, balanced view of the advantages and shortcomings of the female body and how the "female quotient" influences the body's flexibility, endurance, pain tolerance and performance. She argues that the historical view of a female athlete as just a "small male" couldn't be more wrong.

“Simply telling a group of women that they could best the men… improved their scores.”

I grew up listening to my my mom, grandmoms and aunts telling me women can tolerate pain better than men, because we are designed to do so - menstrual pain, cramps and of course the pinnacle of pain - childbirth. After reading Vartan's chapter on pain tolerance makes me wonder how much we are conditioned to believe what we are told and just grin and bear it.

“Women’s bodies surpass men’s in endurance, flexibility, immunity, pain tolerance, and the ultimate test of any human body: longevity.”

I was surprised to read that many sports used to have men and women competing against each other, rather than the segregated teams like we have today. It is mindboggling that not just physical sports are segregated, but even a game of the minds like chess has men and women playing in separate teams. Vartan introduced me to Korfball through this book, which has men and women in the same team. Male and female team members share what they see as benefits of playing together.

One of the things I liked about the book is the author's refusal to pit men against women. Vartan’s goal isn’t to argue “women are more superior than men” but to raise up an appreciation for the unique strengths of women’s bodies. She challenges cultural expectations and medical myths, like the outdated advice that pregnant women should avoid exercise, by presenting research that shows the opposite is true. Her tone is inclusive, advocating for a broader understanding of human potential.

[Jackie]

Should have been a New Yorker piece

[Missyohara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Should be required reading for all women and men. Really interesting scientific studies are discussed in the book.

[Elizabeth · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book has a great title. The Stronger Sex. Opinions and quotes from experts didn't add value to the read & became repetitive and boring after a while . Cheaper Four "Hacking The Female Body To Win At Sports" I'm interested I will learn something interesting in this chapter but quotes from a CEO's personal experience were not relatable or informative. Three other headings "understanding individual differences in monthly cycles (might benefit many!)
"Stay Safe" (a rigmarole about abortion). And "if the data being accessed could result in jail time, think really hard before making any digital record". (Think hard!!)

I've never written a book so who am I to comment.