Book Description
“One of the most admired men in the world of seduction” (The New York Times) teaches average guys how to approach, attract and begin intimate relationships with beautiful women
For every man who always wondered why some guys have all the luck, Mystery, considered by many to be the world’s greatest pickup artist, finally reveals his secrets for finding and forming relationships with some of the world’s most beautiful women. Mystery gained mainstream attention for his role in Neil Strauss’s New York Times bestselling exposé, The Game. Now he has written the definitive handbook on the art of the pickup.
He developed his unique method over years of observing social dynamics and interacting with women in clubs to learn how to overcome the guard shield that many women use to deflect come-ons from "average frustrated chumps."
His tips include:
*Give more attention to her less attractive friend at first, so your target will get jealous and try to win your attention.
*Always approach a target within 3 seconds of noticing her. If a woman senses your hesitation, her perception of your value will be lower.
*Don't be picky. Approach as many groups of people in a bar as you can and entertain them with fun conversation. As you move about the room, positive perception of you will grow. Now it's easy to meet anyone you want.
*Smile. Guys who don't get laid, don't smile.
Customer Reviews:
Hilarious and informative.......2007-10-06
I got this book from a friend after a recent divorce. To her it was a gag gift. It took me a while to finally get around to reading it. I was glad I did. It's not only highly entertaining, but I think provides a lot of tips for not only getting beautiful women into bed (God knows I need all the help I can get with even the not-so-beautiful women), but in general for being successful with people--sort of a modern day Dale Carnegie. If nothing else, you'll enjoy the read!
Really good book!.......2007-09-30
This book was great but the problem is that it is more of an explanation on the mystery method than a "how to" book. It gives few examples of gambits (conversations starters to disarm & attract targets). The reader is basically encouraged to go out & figure it out through constant trial & error. What I loved most is the explanations of differences between men & women & why women do some of the crazy things they do (this alone is worth the price of the book). I t tells you what attracts women & how to choose the right thing to say & what body language you express. Again it does not actually tell you what to say & only very few gambits (you must be able to switch from on story to another effortlessly without pause to keep target intrigued & wanting more). The reader is left to come up with their own material or purchase it from his website.
The Real Deal.......2007-09-30
I just finished watching "The Pick-up Artist" on WeTV with Mystery as its host and it really proved to be entertaining! I met my girlfriend being "cocky and funny" in that I showed humor, confidence, and flirtation which are the basics of what Mystery teaches. Overall, a great read! You'd be surprised how many men are clueless on how to approach women. Also, there are so many women who are intimidated by men approaching them if they have a boyfriend or husband. They freak out and don't take it as a compliment!
what a crock of crap!.......2007-09-29
Well, having read both books... I still say what a crock of crap. The book is more aptly named how to manipulate women and get laid.
Perfect for every guy who is having trouble getting laid and is in no real need of a relationship or has any desire on how to actually have a relationship... Just pretend your way from bed to bed...
I'm not saying that is a bad thing. For some men, and women or that matter, this works and he/she is happy with it. But this book should not be read with the idea that this is the way to find, build and have a lasting love based on anything trusting, vulnerable, or real.
Women should read this book, so they can spot these guys when they come around and make a decision knowing what is really going on.
So, why did I rate the book a 5? The book says exactly what it says it does... teaches exactly what it says it teaches. It is the responsibility of each reader to decide if that is the desired knowledge and outcome he is seeking.
Informative, but It won't make you happy..........2007-09-29
I'll start off saying that this book is worth reading because it will teach you about people, both men and women. Any book that is ranked #27 at amazon that is about THIS topic is obviously special. There are many books that promise guys sex with beautiful women, but few make it in the top 10000, let alone the top 100. What makes this one different?
I think because it explains how mating in human beings works in a progression and from an evolutionary psychology standpoint, while at the same time applying it to the bar/club/party scene.
The idea is this: High quality women look for high quality men. They won't have sex with you until they see you as high quality. This means you either have to actually BE high quality, or you have to give the illusion of being high quality. This book teaches you to mostly do the 2nd, not the 1st.
Peacocking, memorizing canned material, learning palm reading and magic tricks, pretending to have lots of friends and women, telling fictional stories as the truth, these things don't make you higher quality. They only create the illusion. This makes sense, after all, the author is a professional illusionist.
If you want a higher-quality woman LONG TERM, make yourself higher quality. This book mostly teaches you how to fake it long enough to get them into bed.
This method, if followed diligently and practiced A LOT, may get you in bed with some 10s. But it won't last because eventually the real you and the real her will surface and there will be no more game, just an awkward incompatibility.
I would much rather be with a 7 who is a good person, intelligent, and loyal, than a 10 who is spoiled, thinks the world owes her a living because of her beauty, and will soon cheat on you (and how could she not, she has male-10s offering her sex 24/7 - are you THAT great she would turn them all down?).
If you want sex in a relationship that will make you happy, it will probably be with someone who is about as good quality as you are. That is the only way you will both appreciate each other long term and stay loyal to each other.
Amazon.com
"What should you ask someone before you get seriously involved?" Eve Eschner Hogan wondered while she was starting a long-distance relationship with her future husband, Steve Hogan. Intellectual Foreplay is designed to spark stimulation and interest through intimate communication. "Like its physical counterpart, [it] can build excitement and desire--or quickly reveal a lack of compatibility, saving you months, or even years, of developing a relationship that isn't going to work," say the authors.
It's an interesting concept: questions to ask to determine compatibility or just get to know a lover or potential lover better. The book starts with "Who Are You?" questions covering a myriad of topics, such as self-esteem, values, hobbies, trust, romance, spirituality, health, and time management. Other sections include "Where Did You Come From?" (past, family, friends, education, and intelligence), "Where Are You Going?" (money, work, and future), "Can We Live Together?" (home, household responsibilities, food, bathroom, pets, vehicles, garden), and "Where Are We Going?" (vacations, holidays, children, wedding, and sex). Some questions will strike you as significant and others as unsubstantial--choose the ones that intrigue you. Tips for using the questions productively are peppered throughout the book. For example, figure out your top 20 "non-negotiable" questions and answer them yourself before asking them of a partner. It's an interesting spin on relationship deepening, and will certainly spark conversation. --Joan Price
Book Description
This solutions-oriented guide offers problem solving and behavior changing strategies for people working on their most intimate relationships. The book provides readers with: enhanced knowledge of their own and their partners' beliefs, values, habits, desires, goals, likes, and dislikes; ideas for opening communication and deepening a relationship; skills for making healthy decisions about lifestyles and boundaries; an in-depth understanding of the role of self-esteem in relationships; increased ability to let go of the past and embrace the present; and the knowledge that it is important not only to choose the right partner, but also to be the right partner. What distinguishes Intellectual Foreplay from similar titles is that it includes guidelines on what to do with the answers it gives. This makes it useful in both creating and sustaining a relationship.
Customer Reviews:
Wonderful. Must read!.......2007-06-29
My fiancée and I are almost through Intellectual Foreplay. We have been using it for several months, slowly going through the chapters. Sometimes questions in different chapters have led us to more fully understand one another, and amazingly at other times questions have caused us to reflect and understand our own selves in different ways. Although a few moments with the book have been a challenge, overall, it has actually been tons of fun. I will soon graduate with my doctorate in clinical psychology and I FULLY plan on recommending this book to any couples with whom I do any type of premarital counseling. It has been a very useful tool in a beautiful journey.
I have heard many, many couples say that the first year of marriage is the most difficult. Couples may not know how a spouse rolls the tooth paste roll or in what areas of life the other individual wishes most to grow. And these may be things that will seem huge and insurmountable once one enters into marriage (yes, even the toothpaste rolling). This book asks almost every question imaginable and I think (and hope)that by covering the many things that couples might not otherwise think to talk it may ease the transition of the first year or in the worst case help a couple identify irreconcilable differences before walking down the isle.
It adds variety and depth to an occasional date night and may enrich a relationship. Highly Recommend.
Highly Recommended.......2007-05-29
I've read many relationship books, but this is by far the most relevant to any relationship, regardless of how long you have been together. This is fortunately not one of those "fluff" books filled with silly ideas and questions, instead this book is filled with many relevant, practical questions, many of which you wouldn't think of, or would take for granted.
This book is broken into seven parts, Using Your Head and Your Heart, Who Are You, Where Did You Come From, Where Are You Going, Can We Live Together, Where Are We Going, Can We Evolve Together. Each part starts with a real life example, so you can see how understanding that issue may be relevant, before moving onto several pages of questions. These questions are also broken down sections- questions to ask each partner, questions to explore as a couple, observations of your partner and self observations.
Going through this book, or just by yourself, you'll come out at the end with a clearer view of yourself and/or your relationship.
Very Interesting.......2007-03-09
I enjoyed this book. My boyfriend and I asked each other the quetions. I think it is great. Some of the questions you always wanted to ask but may have been hesitant to are in there. So you can now blame it on the book -- so to speak. I recommend this for women who are with me who don't open up too easily. This book could be likened to a perverbial can opener. I found out a lot about him, as well as myself.
separated after 32 yrs.......2006-12-31
My wife and I are now separated after 32yrs of marriage(both married at age 20). This book was originally referred to me by my therapist in hopes that it would help me with conversation should I have to begin all over in the dating world. I found some very intense questions that if answered honestly, could help strengthen and intensify or totally dismiss an existing relationship. The questions asked should be answered by everyone prior to a permanent relationship as the answers can provide a true insight into the individuals involved. Pay close attention to questions that deal in future possibilities; such as permanent health and disability issues, though they are hard to imagine until they happen they become quite real and can have a major affect on a relationship. My wife is now reading this book and I am eager, yet apprehensive for her to finish it, because at that time we will discuss whether I will be returning home, more importantly, after she answers the questions, does she want me to return home. I have purchased this book for my 3 adult children, one who is married, for our marriage couselor and for a very good friend who has become involved with someone. Hopefully my wife and I will be able to use this book to help us reconnect and enjoy another 32 yrs. Thank you Eve for sharing your book with us.
Fun and Interesting Way to Get to Know Someone.......2006-12-06
I bought this book a while back hoping that I could gain insight into a pseudo-relationship I was having at the time. The other person did not want to answer the questions. That told me everything I needed to know. The second person (who is now a part of my life) answered every question openly and honestly. We have talked for hours over these questions. I feel like I know this man so much better now than I would have had I not had this book and used it. I also feel secure in knowing that we are on the same page in many areas regarding our future. I give a lot of credit to the questions in this book for that.
The questions range in topics from "what are your political views?" to "what was your favorite childhood memory?" to "what do you want in a relationship?" The questions can be light hearted only requiring a one word answer or they can have a lot of depth and force the 'answeree' to think and make a concerted effort to give a full and meaningful answer. I love the questions and I love this book. Its amazing how many people (myself included in the past) throw themselves into relationships not knowing what type of person the other is or what they each want out of life together or apart. While the questions in the book will not take you to the deepest recesses of a person's mind, it will certainly put you on track to do so. Have fun. Be mindful. Pay attention to how your partner answers these questions. His/Her answers (or lack of) may save you a lot of heartache down the road. ;)
Average customer rating:
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The Mating Game: A Primer on Love, Sex, and Marriage
Pamela C. Regan
Manufacturer: Sage Publications, Inc
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Accessories:
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philosophy hope in a jar daily moisturizer
ASIN: 0761926364 |
Book Description
Love, sexuality, and mate selection are fundamental human experiences. Inherently linked, they are best understood in relation to one another. Yet most of the current texts on love and marriage are written from a purely psychological perspective, while those on human sexuality tend to be written from a biological or physiological perspective.
The Mating Game: A Primer on Love, Sex, and Marriage combines theory and research from a wide array of disciplines to explore these three major aspects of human mating dynamics. This engaging, interdisciplinary primer is divided into four parts that encompass a wide range of theoretical and empirical work: Part One considers the topic of love, Part Two examines relational sexuality, Part Three focuses on mate selection and marriage, and Part Four summarizes individual differences in relationship orientation.
Key Features
- Explanations of theory and research from a variety of social and behavioral sciences that highlight the links between these interrelated topics
- Extensive measurement instruments and an understanding of how to interpret research
- Provocative examples and anecdotes to capture the attention of students
- Chapter outlines, lists of key terms and concepts, section introductions, chapter summaries, recommended readings, and discussion questions
Strongly grounded in methodology and research design,
The Mating Game provides a comprehensive review of the nature of love, the role of sex in relationships, and theories of human attraction. Pamela C. Regan presents inclusive information collected from both cross cultural and multicultural samples.
Designed to promote active learning and spark debate for upper-division undergraduate and graduate students in courses on Interpersonal or Close Relationships, Marriage and Family, and Human Sexuality,
The Mating Game is also an indispensable resource for psychologists, therapists, and health professionals.
Amazon.com
In the latter part of the 20th century, the adage "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" has evolved far beyond its original intent as an admonition against false vanity to become a cultural manifesto used to explain phenomena as diverse as the art of Andy Warhol and the rise of a multi-billion-dollar cosmetics industry. But is there something more to human reaction to beauty than a conditioned response to social cues? Yes, says Harvard Medical School psychologist Nancy Etcoff. Survival of the Prettiest argues persuasively that looking good has survival value, and that sensitivity to beauty is a biological adaptation governed by brain circuits shaped by natural selection.
Etcoff synthesizes a fascinating array of scientific research and cultural analysis in support of her thesis. Psychologists find that babies stare significantly longer at the faces adults find appealing, while the mothers of "attractive" babies display more intense bonding behaviors. The symmetrical face of average proportions may have become the optimal design because of evolutionary pressures operating against population extremes. Gentlemen may prefer blondes not so much for their hair color as for the fairness of their skin--which makes it easier to detect the flush of sexual excitement. And high heels accentuate a woman's breasts and buttocks, signaling fertility. Is beauty programmed into our brain circuits as a proxy for health and youth? In marked contrast to other writers like Naomi Wolf (The Beauty Myth), Etcoff argues that it is, noting, "Rather than denigrate one source of women's power, it would seem far more useful for feminists to attempt to elevate all sources of women's power." --Patrizia DiLucchio
Book Description
Beauty is not a myth. According to scientist and psychologist Nancy Etcoff, the pursuit of beauty is neither a cultural construction, an invention of Madison Avenue, nor a backlash against feminism.
Survival of the Prettiest, the first in-depth scientific inquiry into the nature of human beauty, posits that beauty is an essential and ineradicable part of human nature, from what makes a face beautiful to the deepest questions about the human condition. Every human civilization has revered beauty, pursued it at enormous costs, and endured both the tragic and the comic consequences of that pursuit.
Provocative, witty, and insightful, Etcoff sheds light on every aspect of human beauty, including why we devour fashion magazines, check our waistlines, and gaze longingly at objects of desire. Informed by state-of-the-art theories of the human mind from cognitive science and evolutionary biology,
Survival of the Prettiest tells us why gentlemen prefer blondes, why high heels have never gone out of style, why eyebrows are plucked and hair is coiffed. Etcoff also explains how sexual preference is guided by ancient rules that make us most attracted to those with whom we are most likely to reproduce. Research on why we find infant features irresistibly attractive, as well as controversial new work that suggests parents show more affection to attractive newborns, is part of a broad investigation that includes insights into how beauty influences our perceptions, attitudes, and behavior toward others.
When the attainment of beauty is viewed in the context of a Darwinian struggle for survival, many of the most extreme practices surrounding our looks, such as body piercing and serial plastic surgeries, suddenly seem less outlandish. In fact, those very practices may ensure the survival of our genes. Agree or disagree, you will never think about human beauty the same way again.
Customer Reviews:
Nicely researched.......2007-08-06
About: Guide to what humans find beautiful and attractive about each other
Pros: Interesting, very thorough, well researched.
Cons: Almost a bit too well researched, the multitude of facts and studies thrown about can bog the reader down. You're pretty much guaranteed to feel worse about at least one part of your appearance after reading this book.
Grade: B+
In the eye of the beholder.......2007-03-19
Many of the reviews here complains about this being not a book scientifically strong enough.
But even looking at the index you can see what the text is about from the chapters 'the nature of beauty', 'beauty as bait', 'cover me', 'feature presentation' and 'fashion runaway'... since the book is written by someone like Dr. Etcoff, everybody expects the scientific cold point of view evident in every page.
But for many other disciplines the text is perfectly able to open wide a huge perspective in the general problem of the perception of beauty, its uses, and the necessity of it.
For people into arts, the thing about beauty perception and mathematical relation deeply rooted, not in the software but instead in the hardware, is fundamental in a time were the discussion is always about art not being interested in the aestethic depiction, perception or even consideration.
Of course it can be sort of very well known facts what she is saying here about the golden proportion, simmetry and genetic health, the 7 to 10 hip proportion and fertility in women, and even the relation between the mother's perception of beauty in their offspring and neoteny -a concept that certainly you can trace back to Stephen Jay Gould or any other 'divulgative' text, even like the mentioned here 'the selfish gene', etc.
But the real problem is context.
What this book is really good at, is filling the gap between those kind of books -biology, life sciences, perception- and the kind of studies that really need to approach the subject not only as a problem, but instead as a matter.
Not precisely aesthetics, but !fashion!.
Even at the very beginning is mentioned how nowadays an entire city can be stopped because Claudia Schiffer is at a starcaise making some photographs, giving us the clue to understand how this whole book can be seen; in a total different light and with such a different use.
The fact that every now and then Desmond Morris collides with Sandra Rhodes, Azzedine Alaia meets Darwin, opens the window and let you see the landscape is about the form, perception and construction of beauty as an adjective, as something we worn and sometimes have to endure.
So this book belongs in the shelf next to Anne Hollander, Valerie Steel or Alison Lurie. Comprehensive studies about the power of image, fashion and appeareance. And not precisely in the side of the 'scientific' bunch.
And it is an excellent entrance to think in the equation beauty, perception, process and representation that is so difficult to see, but so much necessary to really achieve: design with one eye into the biological process, art once again perceiving its duties, and science humanized through the contact with the arts, designs and fashion. Also I think everybody goes to the scientific side forgetting all the good concatenation of historical facts from corsets, wigs, make up, heels, making a very well define line between the subject -the beauty- and its uses.
As a companion I think also in the same shelf could it be 'Venus Envy' by Elizabeth Haiken, also a bridge between 'science and consumer culture'.
Good for pop psychology, but highly unscientific........2007-03-01
This is a fun read for the layman, but it is not very scientific, furthermore, it is does not stand up to even the most basic scrutiny-don't think too hard if you want to enjoy this one!
For example, the idea that women are Darwinistically selected for their beauty is a hard buy. In all species except humans, males compete for the right to mate with females, but females can ALWAYS reproduce and pass on their genes; females do not need to force males to mate with them. Can you imagine a human society where a female cannot have sex and pass on her genes because her cheekbones are not high enough? It is purely laughable, if anyone is selected, it is us males.
Also, recent scientific evidence (see human genome project) suggests that sperm competition resulted because of the high levels of promiscuity of human females. This throws into question one of the most popular theories of evolutionary psychology, which posits that men roam and spread their seed while women stay home and take care of the kids. On the surface, evolutionary psychology tries to make sense of us, but in reality, it is like thinking the earth is flat. Let's leave science to the scientists.
Not scientifically robust, but maybe a good fit for a dinner talk.......2006-08-12
"Survival of the prettiest" is a very provocative title indeed and it is also a very ambitious subject to say the least. I expected from this book an identification of a phenomenon called "survival of the prettiest" if there is indeed such a thing, and if there is, a robust account of how it can be explained scientifically, because the subtitle of this book is no less than "the science of beauty." But, as a whole, this book fails to give us any satisfactory identification or explanation of the so-called "survival of the prettiest." In fact, I find the book often drifts away to somewhat trivial episodes of some biological or sociological findings to sustain readers' interest. I don't see how such things can be put together to establish the author's ultimate claim that our biological and sociological existence is so designed that the prettiest have been assured a better chance to survive to form the current world. Chapters are not thematically connected with each other and are not well-organized to deliver what the author intends to get across. I expected somehow solid scientific backing for the author's claim, but generally said, this book is a very light read that may not be called the "science" of beauty. I have no objection, however, for the readers who just look for some interesting subjects for light talks with families and friends at the dinner table. This book may be a good fit for that purpose.
Is beauty an honest advertiser?.......2006-06-25
Etcoff does a great job showing how our response to beauty is innate and deeply connected with our urge to reproduce. But I would have wished for a bit more exploration of the way beauty also might fool us. For example, she talks about men preferring women with hourglass shapes and more feminine features, because it signals health and fertility. But then she doesn't give information about whether this is true. Are more feminine looking women more fertile in reality? Are they healthier? We don't know.
Book Description
Males are promiscuous and ferociously competitive. Females--both human and of other species--are naturally monogamous. That at least is what the study of sexual behavior after Darwin assumed, perhaps because it was written by men. Only in recent years has this version of events been challenged. Females, it has become clear, are remarkably promiscuous and have evolved an astonishing array of strategies, employed both before and after copulation, to determine exactly who will father their offspring.
Tim Birkhead reveals a wonderful world in which males and females vie with each other as they strive to maximize their reproductive success. Both sexes have evolved staggeringly sophisticated ways to get what they want--often at the expense of the other. He introduces us to fish whose first encounter locks them together for life in a perpetual sexual embrace; hermaphrodites who "joust" with their reproductive organs, each trying to inseminate the other without being inseminated; and tiny flies whose seminal fluid is so toxic that it not only destroys the sperm of rival males but eventually kills the female. He explores the long and tortuous road leading to our current state of knowledge, from Aristotle's observations on chickens, to the first successful artificial insemination in the seventeenth century, to today's ingenious molecular markers for assigning paternity. And he shows how much human behavior--from the wife-sharing habits of Inuit hunters to Charlie Chaplin's paternity case--is influenced by sperm competition.
Lucidly written and lavishly illustrated, with a wealth of fascinating detail and vivid examples, Promiscuity is the ultimate guide to the battle of the sexes.
Customer Reviews:
And They're Off!.......2007-01-07
If you ever wondered about such glorious subjects as...okay, it's a book about sex, but the scholarly parts of sex normally only pondered by zoologists, not the boxing ring style blow-by-blow accounts you might read in novels. I'll tell you, my fellow Amazonians, if ever you want to feel stupid in what you thought you knew about the wonderful world of sex, read-this-book. And if ever you want to be amazed to death about the wonderful world of sex, read-this-book. And if you never EVER want to eat sushi again, read-this-book!
Did you know there are many species out there that have multiple schmeckles? No, it's true! A schmeckle here, a schmeckle there, a schmeckle everywhere! And did you know that some species die during copulation? And here I always thought nuns were just trying to scare us about that! Or that threesomes, foursome, heck hundredsomes are perfectly natural among many members of the phylum Chordata? Of which we and 97% of all life-forms are a part, folks! And how about the fact that in nature when studied in its entirety it is more common for males to raise the offspring than it is females? Okay, I don't think this book said that, but it's the sort of fact it would have had if it had included it. (Did you follow that?)
Seriously, ladies and non-ladies, this book is great! It studies reproduction as carried out by virtually every species known to exist. It elevates the mind to consider sex as evolution's largest tool, and it has a vigorous full tilt go at sex as a scholarly topic rather than the fodder for humor or arousal it often is. (None of you are turned on or laughing, are you? I should hope not!) Overall Promiscuity: An Evolutionary History of Sperm Competition does for biology what Schoolhouse Rock did for mathematics and other really, really dull stuff. I mean it makes an otherwise universally boring subject like sex fun!
bizzare but fascinating! :).......2006-01-01
i hesitate to write a review of this book because it might appear 'pervy' just to comment ;) but in all fairness, this book is worth reading for anyone interested in science, biology, sex, or ourselves :) ..anyone who enjoys this book would also probably enjoy the weekly publication: NewScientist :)
a test to reach easter.......2001-10-25
If you want to be grossed out, amused and steeped in leading scholarship all at the same time, this may be your book. In a fun, concise and well structured book, Birkhead gives us an up-to-date account of sperm competition in animals. The examples used are wide-ranging, from bed bugs to people, and never fail to raise an eyebrow. A Doay sheep female copulated 163 times in five hours and a man eating sushi once learned that the wiggly things in his tongue owed their thanks to a squid spermatophore. Beyond these exemplars of bizarre, though, this book contains cogent arguments for the place of sperm competition. It kindly sandbags the sensational claims of Baker and Bellis (in their Human Sperm Competition), giving us a fairer treatment in its place, both with respect to humans (where sperm competition has been of relatively little recent importance, evidenced by the relatively small testes and poor sperm quality of males) and numerous other taxa. The section on female benefits to multi-male mating is also worth noting. Evidence is amassed for female benefits in obtaining sufficient sperm, resources and improving the genetic quality of their offspring (e.g. through pairing her genes with a good MHC complement). These last ideas on genetic benefits will continue to inspire new research, just as other ideas in the book should too (accessory glands such as the prostate may have originated in the evolutionary battle of the sexes). It could be stated that the book overstates the case for sexual conflict, when benign agreements have been reached; after all, it wouldn't pay over evolutionary time for the faithful California mouse or swan to employ cruel mechanisms at expense to a partner. Yet this book is worth the strange questions and looks you'll get on the bus when people see its cover and look over your should while reading it (just as happened to my yesterday).
Stranger-than-fiction sex book.......2000-10-06
"Promiscuity" is about sex. Well, I suppose that much is obvious. And sex always makes for great reading. We are all obsessed and entertained by it. Still, this book took me by surprise. It is not your typical book about sex: offering cheap thrills or mundane, overdigested sociopsychological chatter. It is a unique guided tour of the bizarre world of reproduction throughout the animal kingdom. It is also a glimpse into the odd world of evolutionary biologists, in this case those who spend their lives contemplating the meaning behind all of the bizarre variations on sex in the animal world. Apparently, these highly respected academic scholars go to work each day to figure out such things as why some fruitflies make sperm that are 20 times longer than their bodies and why others produce seminal fluids that are toxic to their mates, why some marine flatworms have dozens of penises, why certain slugs have a penis that is longer than their body and that occassionally become so horrifically tangled about their mate that they must be chewed off, why dunglfies sometimes drown their mates in wet dung, why females of one species of catfish fertilize their eggs by drinking sperm, and why deep-sea anglerfish males bite their mates and never let go. The list goes on and on, preparing me with remarkable ammunition for the next dinner party.
Yet this stranger-than-fiction book is not merely a collection of Ripley's sex tales. It is a well-organized treatise of cutting edge science that masterfully instructs the reader as to the common evolutionary threads that define the underlying nature of sex. The reader is left, for example, with an abundant understanding of why sex between men and women is more about conflict than cooperation, which personally clarified much in my life. The first paragraph of the book reads in part, "Status for the Mediterranean male is all-important, and tradition dictates that a man who fails during a hunting expedition can expect his wife to be unfaithful. In parts of Italy it is widely believed that a man must shoot a honey buzzard each year if his wife is to remain faithful. So strong is this belief, and so powerful a motivating force is the idea of female fidelity, that even after they have emigrated to the United States many Italian men return home each year to shoot a honey buzzard. It is not a little ironic that in order to fulfil this ritual a man usually leaves his wife behind. Moreover, in some instances it is the wife who actually encourages him to go!" The remainder of the pages are as engaging as this first one. I recommend this book to anyone that ever has had or ever hopes to have sex.
Book Description
W. D. Hamilton (1936-2000) has been described by Richard Dawkins as 'a good candidate for the title of most distinguished Darwinian since Darwin'. His work on evolutionary biology continues to influence scientists working across a wide variety of disciplines, including evolution, population genetics, animal behaviour, genetics, anthropology, and ecology. This third and final volume of Narrow Roads of Gene Land contains Hamilton's key papers published between 1990 and 2000, a period in which he covered a great diversity of topics, often in collaboration with other scientists. Many of the papers in this volume continue his work on sex, and particularly its relation to parasitic disease, but other topics covered include the Gaia theory, the colours of autumn leaves, and the still-controversial hypothesis that the AIDS pandemic accidentally originated in a polio vaccination campaign in Africa. Each of the co-authored papers in this volume is preceded by an introduction written by one of Hamilton's co-authors, following the model of the previous two volumes in this series, which brings the reader closer to Hamilton's extraordinary personality and intellect, providing the intellectual and physical contexts within which each piece of research was developed. Also included are a chapter by Jeremy Leighton John on the Hamilton archive - 'Bill's last great work' - complete with irresistible pictures, and Alan Grafen's biographical memoir, which presents an overview of Bill's life and work. Together, this unique collection of papers with their biographical introductions provides a profound portrait of one of the twentieth century's most innovative scientists.
Book Description
Scientific discoveries about the animal kingdom fuel ideological battles on many fronts, especially battles about sex and gender. We now know that male marmosets help take care of their offspring. Is this heartening news for today's stay-at-home dads? Recent studies show that many female birds once thought to be monogamous actually have chicks that are fathered outside the primary breeding pair. Does this information spell doom for traditional marriages? And bonobo apes take part in female-female sexual encounters. Does this mean that human homosexuality is natural? This highly provocative book clearly shows that these are the wrong kinds of questions to ask about animal behavior. Marlene Zuk, a respected biologist and a feminist, gives an eye-opening tour of some of the latest developments in our knowledge of animal sexuality and evolutionary biology. Sexual Selections exposes the anthropomorphism and gender politics that have colored our understanding of the natural world and shows how feminism can help move us away from our ideological biases.
As she tells many amazing stories about animal behavior--whether of birds and apes or of rats and cockroaches--Zuk takes us to the places where our ideas about nature, gender, and culture collide. Writing in an engaging, conversational style, she discusses such politically charged topics as motherhood, the genetic basis for adultery, the female orgasm, menstruation, and homosexuality. She shows how feminism can give us the tools to examine sensitive issues such as these and to enhance our understanding of the natural world if we avoid using research to champion a feminist agenda and avoid using animals as ideological weapons.
Zuk passionately asks us to learn to see the animal world on its own terms, with its splendid array of diversity and variation. This knowledge will give us a better understanding of animals and can ultimately change our assumptions about what is natural, normal, and even possible.
Download Description
Scientific discoveries about the animal kingdom fuel ideological battles on many fronts, especially battles about sex and gender. We now know that male marmosets help take care of their offspring. Is this heartening news for today's stay-at-home dads? Recent studies show that many female birds once thought to be monogamous actually have chicks that are fathered outside the primary breeding pair. Does this information spell doom for traditional marriages? And bonobo apes take part in female-female sexual encounters. Does this mean that human homosexuality is natural? This highly provocative book clearly shows that these are the wrong kinds of questions to ask about animal behavior. Marlene Zuk, a respected biologist and a feminist, gives an eye-opening tour of some of the latest developments in our knowledge of animal sexuality and evolutionary biology. Sexual Selections exposes the anthropomorphism and gender politics that have colored our understanding of the natural world and shows how feminism can help move us away from our ideological biases. As she tells many amazing stories about animal behavior--whether of birds and apes or of rats and cockroaches--Zuk takes us to the places where our ideas about nature, gender, and culture collide. Writing in an engaging, conversational style, she discusses such politically charged topics as motherhood, the genetic basis for adultery, the female orgasm, menstruation, and homosexuality. She shows how feminism can give us the tools to examine sensitive issues such as these and to enhance our understanding of the natural world if we avoid using research to champion a feminist agenda and avoid using animals as ideological weapons. Zuk passionately asks us to learn to see the animal world on its own terms, with its splendid array of diversity and variation. This knowledge will give us a better understanding of animals and can ultimately change our assumptions about what is natural, normal, and even possible.
Customer Reviews:
Important points in an easy read.......2006-01-08
So, what can and can't we learn about sex from animals? Marlene Zuk has written an easy read that actually makes important points about our human-biased and, especially, male-biased interpretations of nature. She points out that nature is 'witless' - the world comes without an agenda - and that selection has produced an enormous diversity of behaviour including that of the sexes.
When we look objectively at other animals there is no universal way of being 'male' or 'female' regarding, for example, aggression, parental care or multiple sexual partners. In the last four chapters Zuk looks at menstruation, orgasm, homosexuality and spatial ability and discusses how looking at a wide variety of other species may shed more light on our own behaviour than ignoring other species or limiting our attention to only a few species.
An important point Zuk makes is that we cannot regard evolution as hierarchical and when we stop ranking species we can then simply look at how selection works to create enormous diversity. By looking objectively at all species our assumptions are challenged about what it means to be 'female' or 'male'. There is no reason for feminists to either oppose science nor to use 'nature' to assert some sort of female superiority. There is nothing in nature that tells us about relative values of the sexes or how we should or should not behave. And there is much in nature that can horrify us, such as parasitioids, so the 'naturalistic fallacy' needs to be avoided by us all.
Animals can show us how selection has worked to create enormous diversity and that humans have also been a part of this process. They can challenge our assumptions of what we believe to be natural, normal or even possible. Women's involvement in science can show up our biases in how we interpret various animal behaviours (eg female 'promiscuity' or 'adultery' or aggression compared to the same behaviour in the male). Any particular animal behaviour cannot be used to impose or justify the same behaviour in humans.
Marlene Zuk is making very important points about how we study ourselves and how we relate this to other species including the errors we are susceptible to on both fronts. For me the book misses five stars because it lacks enough examples of animal behaviours and enough depth of discussion and I am not sure that anti-science or eco-feminists, whom the book seems to be mainly aimed at, will be totally convinced by the argument.
waste of time.......2005-07-04
if you think you might learn something from the animals, you will be very disappointed.
Open your mind........2003-03-06
An eye opener for male and female readers alike.
Open your mind........2003-03-06
An eye opener for male and female readers alike.
Reconciling feminism and evolutionary biology.......2002-12-10
University of California, Riverside biology professor Marlene Zuk, whose specialty is insects, especially crickets, makes two main points in this modest volume. One, what is "natural" as observed in nature is not necessary right and should not be used as a guide for human society; and two, how we interpret the behavior of animals is colored by our biases, both anthropomorphic and male-gendered.
Professor Zuk writes from the avowed position of a feminist, although she makes it clear that she is not an "ecofeminist" nor does she agree with those feminists who believe that the exercise of science and "attempts to study the world are just culturally derived exercises relevant only in a certain social context." (p. 16)
In other words, Zuk wants to reconcile the ways of science, especially evolutionary biology, to feminists while pointing out to biologists that many of their preconceptions contain a male bias. She recalls a poem from A.E. Housman that includes the phrase "witless nature" which she takes as a cornerstone for her position. Nature "is not kind, not cruel, not red in tooth and claw, nor benign in its ministrations. It is utterly, absolutely impartial." (p. 15)
From this it follows (for most of us anyway) that we should not draw moral conclusions about how people should behave, nor should we form notions of what is "right" or "wrong" from observations of nature. This is a position that most professionals in evolutionary biology today appreciate, although this was not always the case, as Zuk is quick to remind us. She sees the antiquated notion of scala naturae (from Aristotle) which puts humans at the pinnacle of evolution as part of the reason for the errors of the past. Humans were seen as the positive norm, and to the extent that the behavior of other animals deviated from that they were inferior. Zuk also points to a "male model in biology" assumed by biologists (consciously or unconsciously), as an addition source of bias. She points to the idea that males are more aggressive than females as an example of an unwarranted preconception.
My experience (for what it's worth--I coached girl's basketball some years ago, and believe me the girls were VERY aggressive), and from what I know of aggressiveness theoretically, suggests that females are indeed just as aggressive as males in going after what they want. The reason that women use violence (a kind of aggressiveness) less than men do has to do with social conditioning of course, but also with the fact that a woman's reproductive capability is seldom if ever enhanced by the use of physical force while a male may use force to his reproductive advantage. In the case of non-human animals I am thinking especially of male lions killing the cubs of another male to bring the female into estrus. In the case of humans I am thinking of human males using the spoils of war to gain access to females and to nurture their offspring. (I am NOT thinking of rape since that sort of unsocial, high-risk behavior seldom leads to successful reproduction; more often it leads to ostracization and an early demise for the rapist, a state of affairs that is not adaptive.)
Zuk writes in a witty style that is easy to read. Her target readership is the non-specialist; indeed one gets the sense that she is addressing her undergraduate students. Politically speaking, she steers a middle course between the extremes of the sociobiological right and the socialist left, a fact underscored by the appearance on the cover of endorsements from Matt Ridley on the right, Patricia Adair Gowaty from the left, and Sarah Blaffer Hrdy from somewhere in the middle.
I would give a more ringing endorsement of this book were it not for the fact that there is virtually nothing new in Zuk's very agreeable presentation, and my lingering sense that a person who identifies herself as "feminist" biologist (instead of merely a biologist) is not entirely objective any more than the old guys from the patriarchy were. However, to be fair, at no place in the book does Zuk espouse anything close to a preference for the politically correct at the expense of scientific inquiry, as feminists sometimes do when the conclusions are not what they want. Zuk knows that to make science subordinate to what is politically and socially agreeable is to sacrifice science completely. Indeed, I see this as the profound central message of her book, and a reason to hope this book receives a wide readership.
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Sexual Selection and Reproductive Competition in Insects
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This book sets out to explore why and when people evolved so far away from other mammals in several key ways, all of which Dr. Shlain ties to the biological differences between men and women. As in his excellent prior work The Alphabet Versus the Goddess: The Conflict Between Word and Image (which holds that there are links between the ascendancy of patriarchy and written language and the descent of matriarchal societies and goddess-based religions), some of the concepts proposed in this book might seem a bit of a stretch. And they are—whether or not they turn out to be factual. Shlain contends, for instance, that women essentially invented the concept of time due to their experience of menses. Whatever conclusions the reader comes to, the author exposes the underlying gender biases in so many scientific assumptions; the result is one of those books that cannot help but alter one's perceptions. A consistently engaging writer, Shlain traces the course of his own evolving ideas with what might be called a didactic wit: bold statements are first writ large, then Dr. Shlain reveals how he came upon them, frequently with colorful anecdotes that show these are questions he's been wrestling with for many years. It's difficult to tell whether this fascinating thinker will be viewed as the next Darwin or as a crank, but there's no denying this is an audacious work in the realm of evolutionary biology. --Mike McGonigal
Book Description
No clear and compelling explanation currently exists for the sudden emergence of big-brained Homo sapiens 150,000 years ago. Here, Leonard Shlain proposes an original thesis that argues that profound changes in female sexuality hold the key to this mystery.
According to Shlain, bipedalism, narrow pelvises, and enormous fetal heads precipitated a crisis for our species. Mothers faced a grave death threat in childbirth. To compensate, women lost estrus and its urgency to copulate, but gained veto power over sex. Drastic reconfiguration of their reproductive cycle, particularly the new feature of heavy menses, allowed women to discover the dimension of time and with it the insight that sex caused pregnancy. Men used foresight to become the planet's most dangerous predator but they suffered terror when they learned they were doomed to die. Inventing religions and afterlives to ameliorate the knowledge of death, men then learned the part they played in impregnation. The concept of paternity drove men to create patriarchal cultures designed to control women's reproductive choice. But the insights, first discovered by women, also created the conditions for two people to love each other more deeply and longer than any other animal.
Throughout Sex, Time, and Power, Shlain offers carefully reasoned and certain to be controversial discussions on subjects such as menses, orgasm, masturbation, menopause, circumcision, male aggression, the evolution of language, homosexuality, and the origin of marriage. Written in a lively and accessible style, Sex, Time, and Power is certain to generate heated debate in the media and among readers interested in human evolution and the history of sexuality.
Customer Reviews:
one of those best sellers that was intended as such.......2007-09-14
I heard about this book from an interview with Shlain on NPR. The ideas he presents are compelling, but in places his arguments lack true depth. As a result, I was left feeling like I should not have bothered to buy the book and should have just been satisfied with listening to the interview, which gave me adequate exposure to the ideas. The book did not go beyond that. It provided only exposure to a wide range of ideas. Exploring the bibliography would obviously lead to the depth I desired, but after 400 pages of looking for it in Shlain's writing itself, I couldn't help but feel disappointed. His style was a bit too flowery and a bit too crowd-pleasing.
Innovative thinking for our time.......2007-05-22
I believe that to arrive at the correct answers, one needs to be asking the correct questions.
It is Shlain's ability to ask questions about how we have arrived at this time and place which inspires some out-of-the-box thinking and ideas.
I enjoyed his thought process immensely.
I recommend the book for any thinking person.
Starts out OK but then devolves into mistaken fantasy.......2007-04-27
Shlain is a quite knowledgable physiologist and has several interesting observations to make about the subject, especially with regard to iron metabolism and some perplexing aspects he's noted relating to humans versus other animals. This material occupies roughly the first third or 40% of the book, and it's worth reading. Interesting stuff, and potentially very important in piecing together how human evolution went.
The problems arise when the author then seeks to do this by applying evolutionary principles in building a model of how these physiological properties came about. In short, his understanding of evolution seems quite dated and just plain inapplicable -- one is tempted to be harsh and use words like 'rudimentary' or 'amateurish'. Specifically, he keeps referring to *group* selection, using terminology such as "what's good for the species", mixing it up with the more currently accepted idea that selection takes place almost exclusively at the level of the individual or its closer kin. His use of questionable concepts in the situation he's trying to come to grips with thus make his conclusions questionable (at best), and all the more so because he doesn't seem aware of his error/confusion, and thus he proceeds both boldy and blindly. He really would have benefited from teaming up with someone well-grounded in how evolution is really thought to work.
Shlain then compounds the error in the last third of the book or so by trying to create a complete scenario of human social evolution from the dim past (50-100 thousand years ago?) up through to about the invention of the first primitive nation states, but again uses grating pseudo-evolutionary sounding language about what "mother nature wants", with yet more appeals to what's good for the human species, while often confusing things by using specific hypothetical individuals as test particles in his thought experiments. I didn't find hardly any of this believable in the least, and since it's based on faulty evolutionary thinking it's almost certainly entirely wrong. Too bad, because the gloss of scientific and evolutionary credibility will cause many to take this part of the book as some definitive exposition on how it really was and draw unwarranted conclusions about human nature. One would love to see this book done right. 2 1/2 to 3 stars.
Who knew a steak was so important?.......2007-04-20
Dr. Schlain has brought to our attention the key role of iron for women, not only for nutriton and survival, but for courtship and commitment. I think Mother Nature is entirely capricious to make we women so dependent on men to provide steaks to get our attention. In a more serious vein, I am impressed with Dr. Schlain's grasp of history, prehistory, anthropology, sociology, and all the other ologies that make us what we are. I will never take my various systems for granted again. And now I understand how I used to become easy prey for the men who took me to dinner and wooed me with a steak (and wine). Thanks, Dr. Schlain.
Leonard Schlain : a Panoramic Thinker .......2007-03-09
Leonard Schlain is a creative and panoramic thinker: very like a multi-tasking woman who must focus in the moment and simultaneously "see" the past and future. He's ingeniously woven the story around the facts into what perhaps is our best guess yet, about our evolutionary underpinnings. Schlain's a genre of his own, who has mentally freed us up from a scanty and overly focussed scientific box. This medical man is comfortable that the scientist affects the experiment. Read it. ~ Elena Dolan
Book Description
The "ant" and the "peacock" stand for two puzzles in Darwinism--altruism and sexual selection. How can natural selection favor those, such as the worker ant, that renounce tooth and claw in favor of the public-spirited ways of the commune? And how can "peacocks"--flamboyant, ornamental and apparently useless--be tolerated by the grimly economical Darwinian reaper? Helena Cronin has a deep understanding of today's answers to these riddles and their roots in the nineteenth century; the analysis is new and exciting and the explanations lucid and compelling.
Customer Reviews:
The Most Beautiful Rule the Bird World, Can That Be in Humans?.......2005-09-19
Peacocks are the most flamboyand and ornamental birds. The male peacock's tail is an extravanganza: bizarre, and exaggerated, while the white felame is less beautiful and mores 'sensibly dressed.' For a special occasion, I purchased a bright blue and white whirt with the appearance of peacock feathers. It was lovely but, after two wearing, I went back to the mall and also purchased the 'dull' brown, yellow and green identical skirt in the muted colors. Can you imagine, it was appreciated more by the viewers than the brighter one? Darwin had it right with his theroy that females prefer to mate with the best-ornamental males. Over evolutionary time, males develop ever-more exaggerated, immoderate flamboyance. All male birds are the brighter ones, even ducks.
What was the selective force that had brought such fine-tuning of choosing a mate, if not the visual discrimination of birds? He conceived the idea of the peacock's tail as a product of female choise was 'an awful stretcher.' But his prediction proved true; thus, a happy ending to the peacock's tale.
One thing about ants are they don't have to worry about appearances. They aren't very pretty so who can tell the difference; they are busy, hard workers who live in communes, and have multiple partners to propetuate the species.
Ms. Cronin's thesis on humans is that women choose men who can give them handsome sons to propugate the theory of selective evolution. In my case, it's always been the male who did the choosing, and the beautiful females (no matter how dumb) have the advantage over the not-so-pretty girls. For some reason, however, the most important men tend to have plainer wifes first, the younger beauties in their old age.
She discusses human altruism by comparing Wallace, Huxley, Spenser and othre with Darwin and his moral views as to natural history. Nature can be most cruel to the kindest, most compassionate humans and bless the selfish, arrogant maco men as they do the choosing in today's world. Can you call it really 'mating' or power of lust to allow today's attractive men to make the overtures?
Young girls are certainly advertising their wares with their middles and belly buttons showing and the see-through camisoles they wear in public is a form of indecency. At the rodeo, some girls showed their rear sections with the short shorts and midriff tops and didn't have good-looking bodies, but t he men looked anyway. This in-depth study of Darwinism and its antagonists is done in an intellectual way by Ms. Cronin who has a Ph.D and taught at University of Oxford and the Philosophy Department at the London School of Economics.
The cover picture is "Peacock and Peahen with a Red Cardinal in a Classical Landscape" by Tobias Stranover which hangs in the London Gallery and the Bridgeman Art Library.
A gentle detonator.......2002-09-02
This comprehensive and engrossing study examines two major elements of evolution: the role of ornamenation in various species, and the presence of altruism in a nature deemed "red in tooth and claw." Cronin focuses throughout the book on the contrasting views of Charles Darwin and his co-founder of evolution by natural selection, Albert Russell Wallace. Darwin appended his earlier ideas outlined in The Origin of Species in The Descent of Man. In that later work, he enalrged on the idea of "sexual selection." He postulated that many evolutionary traits which appear as maladaptive to survival are actually derived from reproductive pressures. The issue of female choice among many species was a difficult idea to sell - Wallace never accepted it. He retained what Cronin deems "natural selection by
good sense," devoid of esthetics.
Cronin chronicles the history of sexual selection with craft and precision. Her writing is unambiguous, providing excellent insights into many aspects of evolutionary thinking. As she develops her theme, she aknowledges her debt to Dawkin's work on the influence of genes manifesting as guides to adaptation. Cronin adds a new term in describing the merging of Mendelian genetics and Darwin's gradualist concept - "modern Darwism". She carefully explains how natural selection operates at the genetic level to achieve a "trade-off" of costs and benefits to arrive at selected traits. In this analysis, Cronin gently but firmly applies Darwinian implements to show how critics of modern Darwinism have misled themselves in seeking "alternative" answers to adapation. The have been asking the wrong questions!
This view was hotly challenged by paleontologist Stephen Gould in a now-famous essay. He viewed with horror Cronin's application of gene selection as a definitive evolutionary process. He made a wide-ranging critique which attempted to refute applying any facets of animal behaviour to humans. The review touched off the [mostly] trans-Atlantic dispute over how adaptation actually works. It was the Sarajevo of the "Darwin Wars" between Gould and Dawkins, perhaps best summarized by Daniel Dennet. Cronin's use of evidence should have forestalled that conflict. Cronin's skills in applying essentials to explain adaptations are unimpeachable and her skillful prose only enhances the value of this work. It will stand for a long time as a landmark work in evolutionary studies.
Interesting History of Two Troublesome Issues in Darwinism.......2000-06-04
Dr. Cronin presents a philosophical history of the questions of sexual selection (as exemplified by the peacock in the title) and altruism (the ant), from the time of Darwin until today. She explains the background to the debate (or lack thereof) among Darwin's contemporaries and successors, which is sometimes difficult to understand with the gene based view of natural selection we have today. It is fascinating reading for the informed person, but the academic tone may be off putting to the casual reader. Dr. Cronin presupposes a fairly detailed knowledge of modern evolutionary theory, and the layperson may want to read some introduction such as Dawkins' books first.
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