Sex at Dawn, by Christopher Ryan and Cacilda Jethà

[nwhyte]

Second paragraph of third chapter:True, some of us manage to rise above this aspect of our nature (or to sink below it). But these preconscious impulses remain our biological baseline, our reference point, the zero in our own personal number system. Our envolved tendencies are considered "normal" by the body each of us occupies. Willpower fortified

Comments

[lydy]

The thing I found amusing about _Sex at Dawn_ was watching the authors use all the evo-psych babble to argue that women are naturally promiscuous women and men are programmed to be monogamous, and generally thumb their collective noses at years of solemn articles explaining why rape was evolutionarily selected for. I didn't think it managed a cogent argument in favor of polyamory, but it did a lovely number at making fun of some of the worst of the gender essentialist arguments that have cropped up over the years.

It would be nice to have a good discussion of polyamory. One day, perhaps. But making fun of the ego-psych boys was worth the price of entry, for me.

[nwhyte]

Yes, I think if I had been more invested in that argument I would have enjoyed it more, just as I rather enjoyed their mocking of Steven Pinker who I already dislike.