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Why Sex Matters: A Darwinian Look at Human Behavior.
by Bobbi S. Low
Product Group: Book
Publisher: Princeton University Press (1999-11-29)
ISBN: 0691028958
EAN: 9780691028958
Dewy Decimal #: 305.3
Hardcover: 432 pages
SKU: 07110275
Condition: New New
Comments: Hardcover. New book. Cover, text and dustjacket all pristine. Book appears never read. Gift quality beautiful book.
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Editorial Reviews
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Product Description
Why are men, like other primate males, usually the aggressors and risk takers? Why do women typically have fewer sexual partners? Why is killing infants routine in some cultures, but forbidden in others? Why is incest everywhere taboo? Bobbi Low ranges from ancient Rome to modern America, from the Amazon to the Arctic, and from single-celled organisms to international politics to show that these and many other questions about human behavior largely come down to evolution and sex. More precisely, as she shows in this uniquely comprehensive and accessible survey of behavioral and evolutionary ecology, they come down to the basic principle that all organisms evolved to maximize their reproductive success and seek resources to do so. Low begins by reviewing the fundamental arguments and assumptions of behavioral ecology: selfish genes, conflicts of interest, and the tendency for sexes to reproduce through different behaviors. She explains why in primate species--from chimpanzees and apes to humans--males seek to spread their genes by devoting extraordinary efforts to finding mates, while females find it profitable to expend more effort on parenting. Low illustrates these sexual differences among humans by showing that in places as diverse as the parishes of nineteenth-century Sweden, the villages of seventeenth-century China, and the forests of twentieth-century Brazil, men have tended to seek power and resources, from cattle to money, to attract mates, while women have sought a secure environment for raising children. She makes it clear, however, they have not done so simply through individual efforts or in a vacuum, but that men and women act in complex ways that involve cooperation andcoalition building and that are shaped by culture, technology, tradition, and the availability of resources. Low also considers how the evolutionary drive to acquire resources leads to environmental degradation and warfare and asks whether our behavior could be channeled in more constructive ways.
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Customer Reviews
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THe evolutionary bottom line
Rating  (4)
Date: 2008-07-07
2 out of 2 customers found this reveiw helpful
The basic answer to why sex matters is that sexual reproduction for most species has led to differences between two sexes and to various competitive reproductive behaviors that affect and permeate all of life itself. Low takes the analysis far into modern human life and this is no easy task. She has written quite short chapters ranging over a wide area of human and non-human behaviors which means that the whole does not flow together as well as it might.
The bulk of the book is evolutionary biology applied to humans and she makes many important observations including what makes us different from other species, and how female and male behavior varies across societies depending on factors such as the degree of stratification or whether women can inherit or control property or resources. Human mating systems also vary and affect relations within and between the sexes. Overall women and men are the most sexually dimorphic of all primates in behavior, with male control of female sexuality and reproduction and usually a clear sexual division of labor. And this all connects to evolved strategies for direct or indirect access to reproductive resources with resources and power having different reproductive utility for women and men.
A major part of the book considers human coalitions and groups and human warfare, with agression and war again being shown to be, or originate in, male reproductive strategies. She asks if war is an example of runaway sexual selection - male coalitional aggression being sexually selected but not countered by ordinary natural selection and so becoming a lethal, runaway trait that can even lead to extinction. As a sexually selected strategy in males, for humans this does not necessarily mean it is also a result of female mate choice as she has already pointed out that humans are also different from other species in that people other than the female herself (often fathers and brothers) make the mate choices for females.
As well as war Low discusses (the connected factors of) technology, consumption, and population growth. She says that the problems we face today result from humans doing well at what we have evolved to do - garner and consume resources, be fertile, give to our children and not look too far ahead.
I was already a convert to this argument before reading and would like to think it may help to convince those who have not taken this reproductive/sex perspective before. But as it's such a wide-ranging argument with a deep, evolutionary understanding that needs to be initially grasped, it may be lost on readers not already familiar with it and sympathetic towards it to some degree. It isn't as easy to read as other books written by journalists rather than scientists but it still makes a valuable contribution to the whole.
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A book with to many numbers and figures
Rating  (2)
Date: 2006-08-05
0 out of 4 customers found this reveiw helpful
I bought this book to learn some interisting new facts that I have not heard about before. Well this book didn't do that. Most of the stuff in this book I have read in other places and it was written better. Like The "Red Queen" by Matt Ridley & "Why is Sex Fun" by Jarod Diamond.
This book relies to heavely on statistical data to come up with anything very interisting. I found myself skipping complete pages and chapters because of the boredom for having to read to many statistics.
If you are looking to use this book as a resource to quote statistics about sex then you are in good shape, this book will give you plenty of that. Other wise i recomend that you stir clear of this book.
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Brilliant, if dense, review of human behavior
Rating  (5)
Date: 2003-07-20
4 out of 4 customers found this reveiw helpful
Basically, I'm of much the same opinion as most of the other reviewers. It's a thoroughly fascinating book, which actually looks at human behavior as it should be seen: the ecology and interactions of highly inteligent, highly communicate, mostly bald apes. Well worth the read. That said, I must say that without at least some background knowledge in evolutionary biology, you'll find it tough to digest. But such is the way of scientific works, and, frankly, I prefer it as is, rather than loaded down with explanations of things I already know from my classes.Definitely a book worth not only read, but keeping around as a reference.
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Falls Short
Rating (2)
Date: 2002-09-21
1 out of 6 customers found this reveiw helpful
This topic is extremely complex and professor Low , in my opinion, falls short of further elucidating this field. It's breadth is impressive and stimulated me to pick up the book, however, it doesn't seem to be researched comprehensively. There were several significant omissions. For example, the "group selection muddle" is only a problem for biologists who fail to understand group selection. I admit, alot of prominent biologists don't get it, however, any valid review of the topic should reference David Wilson and Elliot Sober. Also, Low should add that Charles Darwin accepted group selection as an evolutionary mechanism. Another example involves the gender and war section. Again, Low knows more about this subject than most biologists, however, the field of military psychology encompasses more than Clauswitz and Keegan.
On the positive side, I believe professor Low handles the nature-nurture question well. Several sections were informative. Unless one is an expert in this area, they will certainly learn a few new things.
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Great but not an easy read
Rating (4)
Date: 2002-04-12
2 out of 2 customers found this reveiw helpful
Although a talented scientist, Bobbi Low is not a talented writer. This is a great book for those with some foreknowledge of the subjects of sex and evolutionary psychology, but it might be a little obtuse for the casual reader. Her writing style is somewhat stilted and dry, and she quite often assumes the reader is familiar with prior studies and concepts that are germaine to her point, without explaining those concepts, or at best doing so very obliquely. There is a wealth of information here, though, for those willing to decipher what she's saying.
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