The Evolution of Human Sexuality

Author Donald Symonds examines the differences between men and women in sexual behavior and attitudes, concluding that these differences are innate and.
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She concluded that Symons "thoroughly undercut the position of feminists who maintained that true sexual equality would be achieved only when peculiarly female sexual experiences were recognized and galvanized as the basis for a new, egalitarian sexuality. David Puts, Khytam Dawood, and Lisa Welling, writing in the Archives of Sexual Behavior , argued that while Symons's proposal that the human female orgasm is a non-functional byproduct of orgasm in men is plausible, it is a hypothesis that "currently lacks empirical support", that there is some counter evidence, and that the issue remains unresolved.

Dean Lee argued in Biology and Philosophy that Symons's account of the female orgasm has been misinterpreted in the scholarly literature.

The Evolution of Human Sexuality - Wikipedia

According to Lee, while Symons's case that the female orgasm is not an adaptation attracted controversy, little attention was given to the alternative explanation of the female orgasm Symons provided. He described this alternative explanation as "obscure, complicated, and frankly speculative". He maintained that Symons did not, as has been assumed, offer the same explanation of the female orgasm as that later put forward by the evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay Gould , according to which the female orgasm is possible because of the clitoris, which is a byproduct of the embryological connection with the male penis.

He identified Symons's alternative argument as being contained in the sentence in which Symons wrote that, "The female orgasm may be a byproduct of mammalian bisexual potential: He questioned whether Symons actually intended to make an analogy between the existence of the female orgasm and that of the male nipple, writing that Symons's comments on the issue had been taken out of context.

Brian Easlea, writing in Science and Sexual Oppression , argued against Symons that desire for anonymous sex is actually typical only of sexist men and is not characteristic of men in general. He rejected Symons's view that socializing men to "want only the kinds of sexual interactions that women want The biologists Richard Lewontin and Steven Rose , and the psychologist Leon Kamin observed in Not in Our Genes that, like some other sociobiologists, Symons maintains that "the manifest trait is not itself coded by genes, but that a potential is coded and the trait only arises when the appropriate environmental cue is given.

The philosopher Michael Ruse , writing in Homosexuality: A Philosophical Inquiry , concluded that while Symons's explanation of male homosexual promiscuity could be correct, it depends on controversial and disputable claims. He rejected Symons's argument that the infrequency of the female orgasm shows that it has no function.

Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature , argued that Symons's ideas about the evolution of gender differences had revolutionary implications, since "the overwhelming majority of the research that social scientists had done on human sexuality was infused with the assumption that there are no mental differences" between the sexes.

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Ridley endorsed Symons's explanation of male homosexual promiscuity. The journalist Robert Wright , writing in The Moral Animal , called The Evolution of Human Sexuality "the first comprehensive anthropological survey of human sexual behavior from the new Darwinian perspective". He credited Symons with showing that the tendency for men to be more interested than women in having sex with multiple sexual partners holds good across many cultures and is not restricted to western society. Sexual Behavior of Female Primates , argued that the work of sex researchers Masters and Johnson , which shows that the female clitoris is made of the same tissue as the penis and responds sexually in a similar manner, suggests that the clitoris results from an embryonic connection with the male penis and supports Symons's view that it is not an adaptation.

Williams, writing in The Pony Fish's Glow , called The Evolution of Human Sexuality one of the classic works on "the biology of human sexual attitudes", alongside the work of Hrdy. Dixson, writing in Primate Sexuality , described Symons's explanation of male homosexual promiscuity as "interesting". Ehrlich , writing in Human Natures , described The Evolution of Human Sexuality as a "classic but controversial treatise on human sexual evolution", and identified Symons's study of the development of human ovulation as a landmark.

They endorsed Symons's explanation of male homosexual promiscuity, and his arguments against the idea that rape is not sexually motivated. Buss, writing in The Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology , called The Evolution of Human Sexuality the first "watershed in the study of human mating strategies" to follow evolutionary biologist Robert Trivers ' paper "Parental Investment and Sexual Selection" and a "trenchant classic". He credited Symons with being "the first to articulate the theoretical foundations of a fully adaptationist view of male and female mating minds" and "the first social scientist to take the writings of George C.

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Elizabeth Lloyd, writing in The Case of the Female Orgasm , concluded that Symons proposes "the best available explanation for the evolution of the female orgasm", stating that while Symons's conclusions are not beyond dispute, and have been criticized on a number of different grounds, they are consistent with existing evidence, and help to explain "otherwise mysterious findings.

Gangestad, writing in The Evolutionary Biology of Human Female Sexuality , described The Evolution of Human Sexuality as "a landmark in the study of human sexuality" and "the first serious effort to investigate and inquire into the nature of human sexuality", adding that many of Symons's ideas have received support, including his view that women's sexuality includes "sexual adaptation that functions to gain access to nongenetic material benefits from males through its expression when women are not fertile within their menstrual cycles.


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Biological, Psychological, and Cultural Perspectives , identified as Symons one of two major participants in the debate over the reproductive role of the female orgasm, the other being Sherfey. They wrote that Symons's view of female sexuality "reflects western concepts of the passive female and overlooks the evidence of actual female sexual functioning, such as the capacity for multiple orgasms in women. They observed that while Lloyd endorsed Symons's view, her work has been "severely criticized" by the psychologist David P.

Barash , and the relationship between female orgasm and reproduction remains a topic of ongoing debate. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The Evolution of Human Sexuality Cover of the first edition. Bolin, Anne; Whelehan, Patricia Biological, Psychological, and Cultural Perspectives. The Evolution of Desire: Strategies of Human Mating.

The Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology. Evolution and Literary Theory.

Evolution and human sexuality.

University of Missouri Press. The Evolution and Future of the Human Animal. Science and Sexual Oppression: Patriarchy's Confrontation with Woman and Nature.


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Genes, Cultures, and the Human Prospect. Biological Theories About Women and Men. Gould, Stephen Jay The Structure of Evolutionary Theory. Culture's Revenge Against Nature. Hrdy, Susan Blaffer The Woman That Never Evolved. Biological Constraints on the Human Spirit. The Case of the Female Orgasm: Bias in the Science of Evolution. Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. Academic Skip to main content.

Choose your country or region Close. Ebook This title is available as an ebook. To purchase, visit your preferred ebook provider. Overview Description Reviews and Awards. Feb 06, Mooncalf rated it liked it. This book is like the anti- "Sex at Dawn". Matthew Pflaum rated it it was amazing Apr 18, Bluecatblues rated it really liked it Apr 23, Amy Barlow rated it really liked it Jul 07, David rated it really liked it Nov 05, Artem Ilyumzhinov rated it really liked it May 19, Joshua English rated it it was amazing Jul 02, Ben rated it it was amazing Sep 06, Chris rated it liked it May 31, Shiloh Betterley rated it it was amazing Jan 25, Geoffrey Miller rated it it was amazing May 12, Matt Bronstad rated it it was ok Apr 12, Daniel Silveyra rated it it was amazing Mar 14, Miljenko Horvat rated it it was amazing Jan 23, Xteven Zuillen rated it liked it Jan 09, Bryan D rated it really liked it Jan 25, Vladimir Prus rated it really liked it Jan 08, Mike rated it really liked it Jun 20, Sonya rated it it was amazing May 31, Andre Phillip rated it really liked it Apr 18, Jessica rated it it was ok Apr 12, Juan Ruiz rated it liked it Aug 16,