Like many of the books I read, I think I first saw What Do Women Want? Adventures in the Science of Female Desire (2013) by Daniel Bergner on the Cannonball site. Immediately intrigued by the subject matter, I put it on my list.
The full title gives a pretty good idea of what to expect when you read this book, but I will try to sum up Bergner’s main points. Evolutionary theory has been used to teach us that men are more aggressive and promiscuous when it comes to sex because women have to have the babies and men have to spread their seed. However, this may be based less in science and more on the desire of the patriarchy to control the troublesome libidos of the womenfolk. In fact, science has shown that many females of the species do better when paternity is unclear because the male will kill any offspring that is not his. Also, chimps have sex with tons of partners when they’re in heat. Many of the studies that we’ve seen that show women being more choosy have different results when set up in a more realistic fashion. For example, studies of speed dating have shown that men are more likely to say “yes” to more partners than women. However, when the roles are switched, and women stand up and move from table to table while men sit still, the women actually say “yes” to more partners.
Nice to see another review of this — I read it last year and found it incredibly thought-provoking. Good to see another perspective!