Sexual Nature/Sexual Culture (The Chicago Series on Sexuality, History, and Society) Review

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(More customer reviews)This book reads as a college book or as a reference book. If you really want to explore the human sexual nature within and unbias point of view, then this book is for you.If you are looking for an easy read, a page turner, or an erotica book then this not the book.

Personally, I have enjoyed the book and it have explained the reason for many human behavioral questions that I had. So, if you are an inquisitive person go for it!

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Product Description:
In this multidisciplinary study of human sexuality, an international team of scholars looks at the influences of nature and nurture, biology and culture, and sex and gender in the sexual experiences of humans and other primates.

Using as its center the idea that sexual pleasure is the primary motivational force behind human sexuality and that reproduction is simply a byproduct of the pleasurability of sex, this book examines sexuality at the individual, societal, and cultural levels. Beginning with a look at the evolution of sexuality in humans and other primates, the essays in the first section examine the sexual ingenuity of primates, the dominant theories of sexual behavior, the differences in male and female sexual interest and behavior, and the role of physical attractiveness in mate selection. The focus then shifts to biological approaches to sexuality, especially the genetic and hormonal origins of sexual orientation, gender, and pleasure.

The essays go on to look at the role of pleasure in different cultures. Included are essays on love among the tribespeople of the Brazilian rain forest and the regulation of adolescent sexuality in India. Finally, several contributors look at the methodological issues in the study of human sexuality, paying particular attention to the problems with research that relies on people's memories of their sexual experiences.

The contributors are Angela Pattatucci, Dean Hamer, David Greenberg, Frans de Waal, Mary McDonald Pavelka, Kim Wallen, Donald Symons, Heino Meyer-Bahlburg, Jean D. Wilson, Donald Tuzin, Lawrence Cohen, Thomas Gregor, Lenore Manderson, Robert C. Bailey, Alice Schlegel, Edward H. Kaplan, Richard Berk, Paul R. Abramson, Paul Okami, and Stephen D. Pinkerton.

Spanning the chasm of the nature versus nurture debate, Sexual Nature/Sexual Culture is a look at human sexuality as a complex interaction of genetic potentials and cultural influences. This book will be of interest to a wide range of readers-from scholars and students in psychology, anthropology, sociology, and history to clinicians, researchers, and others seeking to understand the many dimensions of sexuality.

"If we ever expect to solve the sexually based problems that modern societies face, we must encourage investigations of human sexual behavior. Moreover, those investigations should employ a broad range of disciplines-looking at sex from all angles, which is precisely what Sexual Nature, Sexual Culture does."-Mike May, American Scientist

"...This timely and relevant book reminds us that we cannot rely on simple solutions to complex problems. It represents a transdiciplinary approach integrating knowledge from diverse fields and provides the reader with a challenging and rewarding experience. Especially for those who are involved in teaching human sexuality to medical students and other health care professionals, this book is highly recommended."-Gerald Wiviortt, M.D., Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease

"In short, this volume contains much to stimulate, inform, and amuse, in varying proportions. What more can one ask?"-Pierre L. van den Berghe, Journal of the History of Sexuality

"...the book succeeds in bring together some of the sharpest thinkers in the field of human sexuality, and goes a long way toward clarifying the diverse perspectives that currently exist."-David M. Buss and Todd K. Shackelford, Quarterly Review of Biology

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The Woman That Never Evolved: With a New Preface and Bibliographical Updates, Revised Edition Review

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(More customer reviews)Found this book to be an excellent read.I am a biologist and physical anthropologist by training...with specific interest in human evolution. The links between behavior in our closest primate relatives and ourselves...are very relevant.I found Hrdy's scientific discussion of these issues...appropriate and as insightful as science allows us to be.I would recommend this book and other books by this author...she is a scientist with the background to draw connections AND and excellent science writier.Enjoy.

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Hailed as a ground-breaking synthesis of feminism and evolutionary theory when first published, The Woman That Never Evolved is a bold and refreshing answer to contemporary versions of social Darwinism that shoehorn female nature into narrow stereotypes. Sarah Blaffer Hrdy, a leader in modern primatology, argues that evolutionary theorists' emphasis on sexual competition among males for access to females overlooks selection pressures on females themselves. In a vivid account of what female primates themselves actually do to secure their own reproductive advantage, she demolishes myths about sexually passive, "coy," compliant, exclusively nurturing females. Her lucid and compelling account of the great range of behaviors in many species of primates, in many circumstances, expands the concept of female nature to include the full range of selection pressures on females, and reminds us of the true complexity and dynamism of the evolutionary story.

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