Sexual strategies

Why do women and men lie to each other? Why do many men try to control women? Why do women and men have different sexual fantasies? Why are so many women attracted to wealthy, powerful men? Is it inevitable that men love to look at young, voluptuous women? The obvious answers to these questions tell only a small part of the story.

In Sexual Strategies, science journalist Mary Batten presents a provocative exploration of female/male behavior in the animal kingdom and its powerful implications for human relationships. Science increasingly acknowledges that much of human behavior is influenced by biology as well as culture. Human reproductive strategies in particular have come to look more like those of the birds and the bees than anyone imagined. In actuality, it is the females, not the males, of many species that actively select their mates. Although Charles Darwin introduced the theory of female mate choice more than a century ago, only in recent years has this controversial idea been appreciated by the scientific community. Studies of female choice are demolishing the age-old myth of the passive female. From fruitflies to primates, Batten shows how female choice truly plays a pivotal role in the evolution of species. By understanding female mate choice and the female's true power in evolution, we see our own complex species with greater clarity. We gain greater insight into why males and females, including men and women, have built-in conflicts in their mating behavior. In addition, Batten illuminates the roots of current social problems related to gender competition and shows that they cannot be fully understood outside a biological context.