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Sex at Dawn: The Prehistoric Origins of Modern Sexuality by Christopher Ryan, 2010Since Darwin’s day, we’ve been told that sexual monogamy comes naturally to our species. Mainstream science–as well as religious and cultural institutions–has maintained that men and women evolved in families in which a man’s possessions and protection were exchanged for a woman’s fertility and fidelity. But this narrative is collapsing. Fewer and fewer couples are getting married, and divorce rates keep climbing as adultery and flagging libido drag down even seemingly solid marriages.How can reality be reconciled with the accepted narrative? It can’t be, according to renegade thinkers Christopher Ryan and Cacilda Jethá. While debunking almost everything we “know” about sex, they offer a bold alternative explanation in this provocative and brilliant book.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. 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.With intelligence, humor, and wonder, Ryan and Jethá show how our promiscuous past haunts our struggles over monogamy, sexual orientation, and family dynamics. They explore why long-term fidelity can be so difficult for so many; why sexual passion tends to fade even as love deepens; why many middle-aged men risk everything for transient affairs with younger women; why homosexuality persists in the face of standard evolutionary logic; and what the human body reveals about the prehistoric origins of modern sexuality.In the tradition of the best historical and scientific writing, Sex at Dawn unapologetically upends unwarranted assumptions and unfounded conclusions while offering a revolutionary understanding of why we live and love as we do.ContentsPreface: A Primate Meets His Match (a note from one of the authors)Introduction: Another Well-Intentioned Inquisition– A Few Million Years in a Few PagesPart I: On the Origin of the Specious1. Remember the Yucatán!– You Are What You Eat2. What Darwin Didn’t Know About Sex– The Flintstonization of Prehistory– What Is Evolutionary Psychology and Why Should You Care?– Lewis Henry Morgan3. 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 Ovulation4. The Ape in the Mirror– Primates and Human Nature– Doubting the Chimpanzee Model– In Search of Primate ContinuityPart II: Lust in Paradise (Solitary?)5. Who Lost What in Paradise?– On Getting Funky and Rockin’ Round the Clock6. Who’s Your Daddies?– The Joy of S.E.Ex.– The Promise of Promiscuity– Bonobo Beginnings7. Mommies Dearest– Nuclear Meltdown8. Making a Mess of Marriage, Mating, and Monogamy– Marriage: The “Fundamental Condition” of the Human Species?– On Matrimonial Whoredom9. 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 Monogamous10. Jealousy: A Beginner’s Guide to Coveting Thy Neighbor’s Spouse– Zero-Sum Sex– How to Tell When a Man Loves a WomanPart III: The Way We Weren’t11. “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 Politics13. 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 Brutality14. The Longevity Lie (Short?)– When Does Life Begin? When Does It End?– Is 80 the New 30?– Stressed to Death– Who’re You Calling a Starry-Eyed Romantic, Pal?Part IV: Bodies in Motion15. Little Big Man– All’s Fair in Love and Sperm War16. The Truest Measure of a Man– Hard Core in the Stone Age17. Sometimes a Penis Is Just a Penis18. The Prehistory of O– “What Horrid Extravagancies of Minde!”– Beware the Devil’s Teat– The Force Required to Suppress It19. When Girls Go Wild– Female Copulatory Vocalization– Sin Tetas, No Hay Paraíso– Come Again?Part V: Men Are from Africa, Women Are from Africa20. On Mona Lisa’s Mind21. The Pervert’s Lament– Just Say What?– Kellogg’s Guide to Child Abuse– The Curse of Calvin Coolidge– Ten More Reasons Why I Need Somebody New (Just Like You)22. Confronting the Sky Together– Everybody Out of the Closet– The Marriage of the Sun and the MoonAcknowledgmentsReferences and Suggested Further ReadingNotesIndex