Sex at Dawn
Encyclopedia
Sex at Dawn: The Prehistoric Origins of Modern Sexuality is a book
co-authored by Christopher Ryan, PhD and Cacilda Jethá, MD
(kɐˈsiɫðɐ ʒɨˈta), first published in 2010 by the Harper imprint of HarperCollins
. For the paperback, published July 5, 2011, the book's subtitle was changed to "How We Mate, Why We Stray, and What It Means for Modern Relationships." Sex at Dawn has also been published in Korea, Finland, Australia and New Zealand (Scribe, August 2, 2010). Publication is pending in Japan, Spain, China, Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Romania, and Albania.
bands in which sexual interaction was a shared resource, much like food, child care, group defense, and so on. In this, they agree to a degree with the work of Lewis H. Morgan
who proposed in the 19th century that pre-agricultural humans lived in "primal hordes" in which property and paternity was communal
. Though Darwin
disagreed with Morgan's thesis, believing "pre-civilized" humans to have been polygynous
(like gorillas), he respected Morgan's scholarship greatly.
They believe that much of evolutionary psychology
has been conducted with a bias
regarding human sexuality. They believe that the public and many researchers are guilty of the "Flintstonization" of hunter-gatherer
society; that is to say projecting modern assumptions and beliefs onto earlier societies. Thus they believe there has been a bias to assuming that our species is primarily monogamous despite evidence to the contrary. They believe for example, that our sexual dimorphism
, testicle
size, female copulatory vocalization
, appetite for sexual novelty, various cultural practices, and hidden female ovulation
, among other factors strongly suggest a non-monogamous, non-polygynous history. Thus, the authors argue, mate selection was not the subject of much intragroup competition in pre-agricultural humans as sex was neither scarce nor commodified, rather sperm competition
was a more important paternity factor than sexual selection
. This behaviour survives in extant hunter-forager groups that practice communal paternity.
best-seller list
. The book received enthusiastic praise from syndicated sex-advice columnist
Dan Savage
, who wrote: "Sex At Dawn is the single most important book about human sexuality since Alfred Kinsey
unleashed Sexual Behavior in the Human Male on the American public in 1948."
Savage wasn't alone in his high praise for the book. Newsweeks
Kate Daily wrote, "This book takes a swing at pretty much every big idea on human nature: that poverty is an inevitable consequence of life on earth, that mankind is by nature brutish, and, most important, that humans evolved to be monogamous. ... [Sex at Dawn] sets out to destroy almost each and every notion of the discipline, turning the field on its head and taking down a few big names in science in the process. ... Funny, witty, and light ... the book is a scandal in the best sense, one that will have you reading the best parts aloud and reassessing your ideas about humanity's basic urges well after the book is done."
The book was one of NPR’s Favorite Books of 2010, won the 2011 SSTAR Consumer Book Award (Society for Sex Therapy & Research), and was chosen as a Best Book of 2010 by Audible.com.
Book
A book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of hot lava, paper, parchment, or other materials, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf or leaflet, and each side of a leaf is called a page...
co-authored by Christopher Ryan, PhD and Cacilda Jethá, MD
Doctor of Medicine
Doctor of Medicine is a doctoral degree for physicians. The degree is granted by medical schools...
(kɐˈsiɫðɐ ʒɨˈta), first published in 2010 by the Harper imprint of HarperCollins
HarperCollins
HarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company, itself the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers and Row, Peterson & Company. The worldwide...
. For the paperback, published July 5, 2011, the book's subtitle was changed to "How We Mate, Why We Stray, and What It Means for Modern Relationships." Sex at Dawn has also been published in Korea, Finland, Australia and New Zealand (Scribe, August 2, 2010). Publication is pending in Japan, Spain, China, Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Romania, and Albania.
Summary
The authors argue that human beings evolved in egalitarian hunter-gathererHunter-gatherer
A hunter-gatherer or forage society is one in which most or all food is obtained from wild plants and animals, in contrast to agricultural societies which rely mainly on domesticated species. Hunting and gathering was the ancestral subsistence mode of Homo, and all modern humans were...
bands in which sexual interaction was a shared resource, much like food, child care, group defense, and so on. In this, they agree to a degree with the work of Lewis H. Morgan
Lewis H. Morgan
Lewis Henry Morgan was a pioneering American anthropologist and social theorist, a railroad lawyer and capitalist. He is best known for his work on kinship and social structure, his theories of social evolution, and his ethnography of the Iroquois...
who proposed in the 19th century that pre-agricultural humans lived in "primal hordes" in which property and paternity was communal
Partible paternity
Partible paternity is where the nurture of a child is shared by multiple fathers, a form of polyandry.Stephen Beckerman of Penn State University and others have noted it in a number of traditional cultures. He suggests that children in such cultures fare better...
. Though Darwin
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
disagreed with Morgan's thesis, believing "pre-civilized" humans to have been polygynous
Polygyny
Polygyny is a form of marriage in which a man has two or more wives at the same time. In countries where the practice is illegal, the man is referred to as a bigamist or a polygamist...
(like gorillas), he respected Morgan's scholarship greatly.
They believe that much of evolutionary psychology
Evolutionary psychology
Evolutionary psychology is an approach in the social and natural sciences that examines psychological traits such as memory, perception, and language from a modern evolutionary perspective. It seeks to identify which human psychological traits are evolved adaptations, that is, the functional...
has been conducted with a bias
Bias
Bias is an inclination to present or hold a partial perspective at the expense of alternatives. Bias can come in many forms.-In judgement and decision making:...
regarding human sexuality. They believe that the public and many researchers are guilty of the "Flintstonization" of hunter-gatherer
Hunter-gatherer
A hunter-gatherer or forage society is one in which most or all food is obtained from wild plants and animals, in contrast to agricultural societies which rely mainly on domesticated species. Hunting and gathering was the ancestral subsistence mode of Homo, and all modern humans were...
society; that is to say projecting modern assumptions and beliefs onto earlier societies. Thus they believe there has been a bias to assuming that our species is primarily monogamous despite evidence to the contrary. They believe for example, that our sexual dimorphism
Sexual dimorphism
Sexual dimorphism is a phenotypic difference between males and females of the same species. Examples of such differences include differences in morphology, ornamentation, and behavior.-Examples:-Ornamentation / coloration:...
, testicle
Testicle
The testicle is the male gonad in animals. Like the ovaries to which they are homologous, testes are components of both the reproductive system and the endocrine system...
size, female copulatory vocalization
Female copulatory vocalization
Female copulatory vocalization is the tendency of some female primates, including human women, to vocalize in specific ways during sexual intercourse and related sexual activity to express sexual pleasure and to excite their sexual partners as well as potential sexual partners. While males...
, appetite for sexual novelty, various cultural practices, and hidden female ovulation
Ovulation
Ovulation is the process in a female's menstrual cycle by which a mature ovarian follicle ruptures and discharges an ovum . Ovulation also occurs in the estrous cycle of other female mammals, which differs in many fundamental ways from the menstrual cycle...
, among other factors strongly suggest a non-monogamous, non-polygynous history. Thus, the authors argue, mate selection was not the subject of much intragroup competition in pre-agricultural humans as sex was neither scarce nor commodified, rather sperm competition
Sperm competition
Sperm competition is a term used to refer to the competitive process between spermatozoa of two different males to fertilize an egg of a lone female. Competition occurs whenever females engage in promiscuous mating to increase their chances in producing more viable offspring...
was a more important paternity factor than sexual selection
Sexual selection
Sexual selection, a concept introduced by Charles Darwin in his 1859 book On the Origin of Species, is a significant element of his theory of natural selection...
. This behaviour survives in extant hunter-forager groups that practice communal paternity.
Reception
One month after publication, Sex at Dawn entered The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
best-seller list
New York Times Best Seller list
The New York Times Best Seller list is widely considered the preeminent list of best-selling books in the United States. It is published weekly in The New York Times Book Review magazine, which is published in the Sunday edition of The New York Times and as a stand-alone publication...
. The book received enthusiastic praise from syndicated sex-advice columnist
Sex columnist
A sex columnist is a writer of a newspaper or magazine column about sex.Sex advice columns may take the form of essays or, more frequently, answers to questions posed by readers. Sex advice columns can usually be found in alt weekly newspapers, women's magazines, health or fitness magazines, and...
Dan Savage
Dan Savage
Daniel Keenan "Dan" Savage is an American author, media pundit, journalist and newspaper editor. Savage writes the internationally syndicated relationship and sex advice column Savage Love. Its tone is frank in its discussion of sexuality, often humorous, and hostile to social conservatives, as in...
, who wrote: "Sex At Dawn is the single most important book about human sexuality since Alfred Kinsey
Alfred Kinsey
Alfred Charles Kinsey was an American biologist and professor of entomology and zoology, who in 1947 founded the Institute for Sex Research at Indiana University, now known as the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction, as well as producing the Kinsey Reports and the Kinsey...
unleashed Sexual Behavior in the Human Male on the American public in 1948."
Savage wasn't alone in his high praise for the book. Newsweeks
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
Kate Daily wrote, "This book takes a swing at pretty much every big idea on human nature: that poverty is an inevitable consequence of life on earth, that mankind is by nature brutish, and, most important, that humans evolved to be monogamous. ... [Sex at Dawn] sets out to destroy almost each and every notion of the discipline, turning the field on its head and taking down a few big names in science in the process. ... Funny, witty, and light ... the book is a scandal in the best sense, one that will have you reading the best parts aloud and reassessing your ideas about humanity's basic urges well after the book is done."
The book was one of NPR’s Favorite Books of 2010, won the 2011 SSTAR Consumer Book Award (Society for Sex Therapy & Research), and was chosen as a Best Book of 2010 by Audible.com.