| Edition |
First edition. |
| Description |
xiii, 400 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm |
| Summary |
"A controversial, idea-driven book that challenges everything you know about sex, marriage, family, and society"--Provided by publisher. |
|
Since Darwin's day, we've been told that sexual monogamy comes naturally to our species. But this narrative is collapsing. Here, renegade thinkers Christopher Ryan and Cacilda Jethá, while debunking almost everything we "know" about sex, offer a bold alternative explanation. Ryan and Jethá's central contention is that human beings evolved in egalitarian groups that shared food, child care, and, often, sexual partners. Weaving together convergent, frequently overlooked evidence from anthropology, archaeology, primatology, anatomy, and psychosexuality, the authors show how far from human nature monogamy really is. With intelligence, humor, and wonder, Ryan and Jethá show how our promiscuous past haunts our struggles over monogamy, sexual orientation, and family dynamics. Human beings everywhere and in every era have confronted the same familiar, intimate situations in surprisingly different ways. The authors expose the ancient roots of human sexuality while pointing toward a more optimistic future illuminated by our innate capacities for love, cooperation, and generosity.--From publisher description. |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages [315]-380) and index. |
| Contents |
Preface : a primate meets his match (a note from one of the authors) -- Introduction : another well-intentioned inquisition -- A few million years in a few pages -- pt. I. On the origin of the specious -- 1. Remember the Yucatán! -- You are what you eat -- 2. What Darwin didn't know about sex -- The Flintstonization of prehistory -- What is evolutionary psychology and why should you care? -- Lewis Henry Morgan -- 3. A closer look at the standard narrative of human sexual evolution -- How Darwin insults your mother (the dismal science of sexual economics) -- The famously flaccid female libido -- Male parental investment (MPI) -- "Mixed strategies" in the war between the sexes -- Extended sexual receptivity and concealed ovulation -- 4. The ape in the mirror -- Primates and human nature -- Doubting the chimpanzee model -- In search of primate continuity -- pt. II. Lust in paradise (solitary?) -- 5. Who lost what in paradise? -- On getting funky and rockin' round the clock -- 6. Who's your daddies? -- The joy of S.E.Ex -- The promise of promiscuity -- Bonobo beginnings -- 7. Mommies dearest -- Nuclear meltdown -- 8. Making a mess of marriage, mating, and monogamy -- Marriage : the "fundamental condition" of the human species? -- On matrimonial whoredom -- 9. Paternity certainty : the crumbling cornerstone of the standard narrative -- Love, lust, and liberty at Lugu Lake -- On the inevitability of patriarchy -- The march of the monogamous -- 10. Jealousy : a beginner's guide to coveting thy neighbor's spouse -- Zero-sum sex -- How to tell when a man loves a woman -- pt. III. The way we weren't -- 11. "The wealth of nature" (poor?) -- Poor, pitiful me -- The despair of millionaires -- Finding contentment "at the bottom of the scale of human beings" -- 12. The selfish meme (nasty?) -- Homo economicus -- The tragedy of the commons -- Dreams of perpetual progress -- Ancient poverty or assumed affluence? -- On Paleolithic politics -- 13. The never-ending battle over prehistoric war (brutish?) -- Professor Pinker, red in tooth and claw -- The mysterious disappearance of Margaret Power -- The spoils of war -- The Napoleonic invasion (the Yanomami controversy) -- The desperate search for hippie hypocrisy and bonobo brutality -- 14. The longevity lie (short?) -- When does life begin? When does it end? -- Is 80 the new 30? -- Stressed to death -- Who you calling a starry-eyed romantic, pal? -- pt. IV. Bodies in motion -- 15. Little big man -- All's fair in love and sperm war -- 16. The truest measure of a man -- Hard core in the Stone Age -- 17. Sometimes a penis is just a penis -- 18. The prehistory of O -- "What horrid extravagancies of minde!" -- Beware the devil's teat -- The force required to suppress it -- 19. When girls go wild -- Female copulatory vocalization -- Sin tetas, no hay paraíso -- Come again? -- pt. V. Men are from Africa, women are from Africa -- 20. On Mona Lisa's mind -- 21. The pervert's lament -- Just say what? -- Kellogg's guide to child abuse -- The curse of Calvin Coolidge -- The perils of monotomy (monogamy + monotony) -- A few more reasons I need somebody new (just like you) -- 22. Confronting the sky together -- Everybody out of the closet -- The marriage of the Sun and the Moon -- Acknowledgments -- Notes -- References and suggested further reading -- Index. |
| Subject |
Sex.
|
|
Sex -- History.
|
|
Sex customs.
|
|
Marriage.
|
|
Monogamous relationships.
|
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Primates -- Sexual behavior.
|
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Sexual behavior in animals.
|
|
Social evolution.
|
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Human evolution.
|
| Added Author |
Jethá, Cacilda.
|
| ISBN |
9780061707803 hardcover |
|
0061707805 |
|
