Reviews for Why Women Have Sex: Understanding Sexual Motivation - From Adventure to Revenge (And Everything in Between)

The average rating for Why Women Have Sex: Understanding Sexual Motivation - From Adventure to Revenge (And Everything in Between) based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2013-03-27 00:00:00 Jerohn DEan Apparently two of my coworkers were wondering why I was reading this book. Why would you wonder that? Human sexuality is a fascinating subject, touching on biology, psychology, sociology, anthropology, culture, history, religion, ethics, and several other disciplines that I am no doubt forgetting. So, of course I'd read this book. First off, the title is apt. The core of the book is a survey of 1,006 women who shared their own sexual experiences. Quotes from these responses, giving the ages and orientations of the women, are helpfully interspersed throughout the well-organized book. For example--picking almost at random, from the chapter "A Sense of Adventure": I met someone while in college and heard [good things] about his sexual behavior. I began to date him, mainly because of what I had heard from a friend. We had sex one time in the first week we were dating. I was disappointed, but glad that I had found out for myself. I ended the "relationship" after that. --heterosexual woman, age 26Some of the reasons strike one as better than others. One feels for the women using it to satisfy feelings of loneliness or worthlessness (it usually didn't work). And the book does seem to cover the full gamut of reasons, from being attracted to the other person, wanting to initiate a relationship, wanting to keep or deepen a relationship, the pure pleasure of it, wanting new experiences, feeling a sense of duty, wanting to develop one's skills, et cetera, et cetera. The authors, both PhD researchers in the field, give useful analysis throughout, explaining why women are, in general, more attracted to men who are taller, wealthier, and more dominant; the role of "make-up sex"; and why women would incite jealously in their partners. Their conclusions are always based on the research and always stays close to the findings. For instance, Women report evoking jealously in partners more than men do--31 percent versus 17 percent, according to one study. ... when the man is the more committed partner, only 26 percent of women report intentionally evoking jealousy. In sharp contrast, when the woman is more committed to the relationship, 50 percent of the women resort to jealousy evocation. ... [Men] are much more likely to commit to a woman whom they perceive to be highly desired by other men. A jealous man becomes more smitten, comes to believe that he is lucky to be with his partner, and so doubles his dedication. (p. 106-107)Elsewhere discussing the biological side of sex: Researchers have shown that if you block an animal's natural release of oxytocin by giving the animal certain drugs, mothers stop engaging in normal maternal caretaking behaviors and completely reject their own offspring. The opposite can happen as well. If you inject oxytocin into young rats that have never given birth or even copulated, they begin to nuzzle and protect other females' rate pups just as if the pups were their own. (p. 70)The book discusses social aspects of sex and sexuality as well, including comments on the role that the media play in shaping women's expectations (they have harsh words for Barbie). Their discussion of fantasies was interesting--perhaps counter intuitively, women who enjoy submission fantasies "in fact were more dominant, more independent, and higher in self-esteem than other women." (p. 207) Somewhat surprisingly, "not only has the double standard not been eradicated, it appears to be enforced more strongly by women than by men." (p. 86-87; there are actually cogent reasons why this happens) This is a fascinating book that I recommend for readers of both genders regardless of experience level. It's nice knowing not just the sorts of things that happen in physical relationships, but why they happen (for instance, ever wonder why men are more prone to fall in love at first sight than are women? See pp. 59-60). Highly recommended. 5/5 If this book interests you, also see A Billion Wicked Thoughts by Ogi Ogas & Sai Gaddam. It focuses exclusively on sexual desire--why people are attracted to the various people and traits that they are--with about equal emphasis on men and women.

Review # 2 was written on 2012-01-30 00:00:00 Justin Lamb I wanted to like this book more. It's a good book. I'm just a little disappointed that I didn't learn anything new. So....... I guess I already knew why women have sex? haha.