Sex at dawn : how we mate, why we stray, and what it means for modern relationships / Christopher Ryan and Cacilda Jethá.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ryan, Christopher, 1962-

Contributor:

Jethá, Cacilda.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Sex.

Sex--History.

History.

Sex customs.

Sex customs--History.

Marriage.

Monogamous relationships.

Monogamous relationships--History.

Monogamous relationships--Psychological aspects.

Adultery.

Primates--Sexual behavior.

Primates.

Sexual behavior in animals.

Social evolution.

Human evolution.

Psychological aspects.

Physical Description:

xiii, 402, 14 pages : illustrations, map ; 21 cm

Edition:

First Harper Perennial edition.

Other Title:

How we mate, why we stray, and what it means for modern relationships

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Harper, 2011.

Summary:

The authors debunk almost everything we "know" about sex, weaving together convergent, frequently overlooked evidence from anthropology, archaeology, primatology, anatomy, and psychosexuality to show how far from human nature monogamy really is. They expose the ancient roots of human sexuality while pointing toward a more optimistic future illuminated by our innate capacities for love, cooperation, and generosity.

Contents:

Preface: Primate meets his match (a note from one of the authors)

Introduction: Another well-intentioned inquisition

Few million years in a few pages

Part 1: On The Origin Of The Specious:

Remember the Yucatan!

You are what you eat

What Darwin didn't know about sex

Flintstonization of prehistory

What is evolutionary psychology and why should you care?

Lewis Henry Morgan

Closer look at the standard narrative of human sexual evolution

How Darwin insults your mother (the dismal science of sexual economics)

Famously flaccid female libido

Male parental investment (MPI)

Mixed strategies in the war between the sexes

Extended sexual receptivity and concealed ovulation

Ape in the mirror

Primates and human nature

Doubting the chimpanzee model

In search of primate continuity

Part 2: Lust In Paradise (Solitary?):

Who lost what in paradise?

On getting funky and rockin' round the clock

Who's your daddies?

Joy of S E Ex

Promise of promiscuity

Bonobo beginnings

Mommies dearest

Nuclear meltdown

Making a mess of marriage, mating, and monogamy

Marriage: the "fundamental condition" of the human species?

On matrimonial whoredom

Paternity certainty: the crumbling cornerstone of the standard narrative

Love, lust, and liberty at Lugu Lake

On the inevitability of patriarchy

March of the monogamous

Jealousy: a beginner's guide to coveting thy neighbor's spouse

Zero-sum sex

How to tell when a man loves a woman

Part 3: The way we weren't :

Wealth of nature (poor?)

Poor, pitiful me

Despair of millionaires

Finding contentment "at the bottom of the scale of human beings

Selfish meme (nasty?)

Homo economicus

Tragedy of the commons

Dreams of perpetual progress

Ancient poverty or assumed affluence?

On Paleolithic politics

Never-ending battle over prehistoric war (brutish?)

Professor Pinker, red in tooth and claw

Mysterious disappearance of Margaret Power

Spoils of war

Napoleonic invasion (the Yanomami controversy)

Desperate search for hippie hypocrisy and bonobo brutality

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?

Part 4: Bodies In Motion:

Little big man

All's fair in love and sperm war

Truest measure of a man

Hard core in the Stone Age

Sometimes a penis is just a penis

Prehistory of O

"What horrid extravagancies of Minde!"

Beware the devil's teat

Force required to suppress it

When girls go wild

Female copulatory vocalization

Sin tetas, no hay paraiso

Come again?

Part 5: Men Are From Africa, Women Are From Africa

On Mona Lisa's mind

Pervert's lament

Just say what?

Kellogg's guide to child abuse

Curse of Calvin Coolidge

Perils of monotomy (monogamy + monotony)

Few more reasons I need somebody new (just like you)

Confronting the sky together

Everybody out of the closet

Marriage of the Sun and the Moon

Author's note

Acknowledgments

Notes

References and suggested further reading

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [317]-382) and index.

Includes page S. : Insights, interviews & more.

Originally published in hardcover in 2010, with subtitle The prehistoric origins of modern sexuality.

ISBN:

9780061707810

0061707813

OCLC:

670476379