The Origins Of Sex

Author : Faramerz Dabhoiwala
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 019993939X
Total Pages : 496 pages
Book Rating : 4.98/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Origins of Sex written by Faramerz Dabhoiwala and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2012-05-01 with total page 496 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A man admits that, when drunk, he tried to have sex with an eighteen-year-old girl; she is arrested and denies they had intercourse, but finally begs God's forgiveness. Then she is publicly hanged alongside her attacker. These events took place in 1644, in Boston, where today they would be viewed with horror. How--and when--did such a complete transformation of our culture's attitudes toward sex occur? In The Origins of Sex, Faramerz Dabhoiwala provides a landmark history, one that will revolutionize our understanding of the origins of sexuality in modern Western culture. For millennia, sex had been strictly regulated by the Church, the state, and society, who vigorously and brutally attempted to punish any sex outside of marriage. But by 1800, everything had changed. Drawing on vast research--from canon law to court cases, from novels to pornography, not to mention the diaries and letters of people great and ordinary--Dabhoiwala shows how this dramatic change came about, tracing the interplay of intellectual trends, religious and cultural shifts, and politics and demographics. The Enlightenment led to the presumption that sex was a private matter; that morality could not be imposed; that men, not women, were the more lustful gender. Moreover, the rise of cities eroded community-based moral policing, and religious divisions undermined both church authority and fear of divine punishment. Sex became a central topic in poetry, drama, and fiction; diarists such as Samuel Pepys obsessed over it. In the 1700s, it became possible for a Church of Scotland leader to commend complete sexual liberty for both men and women. Arguing that the sexual revolution that really counted occurred long before the cultural movement of the 1960s, Dabhoiwala offers readers an engaging and wholly original look at the Western world's relationship to sex. Deeply researched and powerfully argued, The Origins of Sex is a major work of history.

Author : Faramerz Dabhoiwala
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0199892415
Total Pages : 513 pages
Book Rating : 4.19/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Origins of Sex written by Faramerz Dabhoiwala and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2012-05 with total page 513 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A book that reveals how, where, and when Western attitudes toward sex were revolutionized, and how this has shaped the course of modern history.

Author : Faramerz Dabhoiwala
Publisher : Penguin UK
ISBN 13 : 1846144922
Total Pages : 560 pages
Book Rating : 4.29/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Origins of Sex written by Faramerz Dabhoiwala and published by Penguin UK. This book was released on 2012 with total page 560 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nowadays we believe that consenting adults have the freedom to do what they like with their own bodies. We publicise and celebrate sex; we discuss it endlessly; we are obsessed with the sex lives of celebrities. We think it wrong that in other cultures people suffer for their sexual orientation, that women are treated as second-class citizens, or that adulterers are put to death. Yet until quite recently our own society was like this too. For most of western history, all sex outside marriage was illegal, and the church, the state, and ordinary people all devoted huge efforts to suppressing and punishing it. This was a central feature of Christian civilization, one that had steadily grown in importance since the early middle ages. In this brilliant, ground-breaking book, Faramerz Dabhoiwala describes in dramatic detail how, between 1600 and 1800, this entire world view was shattered by revolutionary new ideas - that sex is a private matter; that morality cannot be imposed by force; that men are more lustful than women. Henceforth, the private lives of both sexes were to be endlessly broadcast and debated, in a rapidly expanding universe of public media- newspapers, pamphlets, journals, novels, poems, and prints. The Origins of Sex shows that the creation of this modern culture of sex was a central part of the Enlightenment, intertwined with the era's major social, political and intellectual trends. It helped create a new model of Western civilization, whose principles of privacy, equality, and freedom of the individual remain distinctive to this day.

Author : Lynn Margulis
Publisher : Yale University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780300046199
Total Pages : 282 pages
Book Rating : 4.97/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Origins of Sex written by Lynn Margulis and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 1990-01-01 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A fascinating and detailed examination of the evolution--and occasional devolution--of sexuality in microorganisms and more complex forms of life. Margulis and Sagan trace sex from its inauspicious beginnings in bacteria threatened by ultraviolet radiation to its intimate relation with the origin of mitotic division of nucleated cells. The origin of meiotic sex through cannibalism followed by centriole reproductive tardiness and the connection of cell symbiosis to sex and differentiation are explored. "The authors have not only given us a new and exiting scenario for the evolution of sex, but have also provided us with critical ways in which we can test their hypotheses. . . . This is a stimulating book that is sure to invoke criticism and discussion; I strongly recommend it."--Symbiosis "The book is well organized and well written, leading the reader from one thought to another almost effortlessly. Background information is presented to aid those of us who are not experts in this field, and a glossary is appended. The book could be used at all levels of study, from interested undergraduates in general biology though postdoctoral students of genetics and evolution. I recommend this thought-provoking book to you for both your enjoyment and your enlightenment."--Richard W. Cheney, Jr., Journal of College Science Teaching "This book, undoubtedly controversial, is a thoughtful and original contribution to an important aspect of cellular biology."--John Langridge

Author : Joann Ellison Rodgers
Publisher : Macmillan
ISBN 13 : 9780805072815
Total Pages : 548 pages
Book Rating : 4.10/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Sex written by Joann Ellison Rodgers and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2003-02-11 with total page 548 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How much do you really know about sex? In Sex: A Natural History, Joann Ellison Rodgers unearths both the roots of our sexual nature and the expression of our primal urges, explaining what it is that makes us male and female, and providing fascinating insights into the biology and physiology of flirtation, love, courtship, intercourse, fidelity, parenting, and nurturing. She describes scientists' discoveries about how the hormone that triggers labor contractions keeps prairie voles faithful to one mate, how the brain waves of female mice change when a male comes within smell range, and how Harlequin paperback romances and fantasies can be arousing-and what these findings tell us about our own sexuality. Sex: A Natural History illuminates one of the most powerful, and often misunderstood, aspects of human and animal existence.

Author : John A. Long
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 0226492540
Total Pages : 296 pages
Book Rating : 4.44/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Dawn of the Deed written by John A. Long and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2012-10-11 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Originally published under the title: Hung like an Argentine Duck: a journey back in time to the origins of sexual intimacy

Author : Christopher Ryan
Publisher : Harper Collins
ISBN 13 : 0062002937
Total Pages : 420 pages
Book Rating : 4.38/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Sex at Dawn written by Christopher Ryan and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2010-06-29 with total page 420 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since Darwin's day, we've been told that sexual monogamy comes naturally to our species. Mainstream science—as well as religious and cultural institutions—has maintained that men and women evolved in families in which a man's possessions and protection were exchanged for a woman's fertility and fidelity. But this narrative is collapsing. Fewer and fewer couples are getting married, and divorce rates keep climbing as adultery and flagging libido drag down even seemingly solid marriages. How can reality be reconciled with the accepted narrative? It can't be, according to renegade thinkers Christopher Ryan and Cacilda Jethå. While debunking almost everything we "know" about sex, they offer a bold alternative explanation in this provocative and brilliant book. Ryan and Jethå's central contention is that human beings evolved in egalitarian groups that shared food, child care, and, often, sexual partners. Weaving together convergent, frequently overlooked evidence from anthropology, archaeology, primatology, anatomy, and psychosexuality, the authors show how far from human nature monogamy really is. Human beings everywhere and in every era have confronted the same familiar, intimate situations in surprisingly different ways. The authors expose the ancient roots of human sexuality while pointing toward a more optimistic future illuminated by our innate capacities for love, cooperation, and generosity. With intelligence, humor, and wonder, Ryan and Jethå show how our promiscuous past haunts our struggles over monogamy, sexual orientation, and family dynamics. They explore why long-term fidelity can be so difficult for so many; why sexual passion tends to fade even as love deepens; why many middle-aged men risk everything for transient affairs with younger women; why homosexuality persists in the face of standard evolutionary logic; and what the human body reveals about the prehistoric origins of modern sexuality. In the tradition of the best historical and scientific writing, Sex at Dawn unapologetically upends unwarranted assumptions and unfounded conclusions while offering a revolutionary understanding of why we live and love as we do.

Author : Kate Lister
Publisher : Unbound Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1783528060
Total Pages : 444 pages
Book Rating : 4.66/5 ( download)

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Download or read book A Curious History of Sex written by Kate Lister and published by Unbound Publishing. This book was released on 2020-02-06 with total page 444 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is not a comprehensive study of every sexual quirk, kink and ritual across all cultures throughout time, as that would entail writing an encyclopaedia. Rather, this is a drop in the ocean, a paddle in the shallow end of sex history, but I hope you will get pleasantly wet nonetheless. The act of sex has not changed since people first worked out what went where, but the ways in which society dictates how sex is culturally understood and performed have varied significantly through the ages. Humans are the only creatures that stigmatise particular sexual practices, and sex remains a deeply divisive issue around the world. Attitudes will change and grow – hopefully for the better – but sex will never be free of stigma or shame unless we acknowledge where it has come from. Based on the popular research project Whores of Yore, and written with her distinctive humour and wit, A Curious History of Sex draws upon Dr Kate Lister’s extensive knowledge of sex history. From medieval impotence tests to twentieth-century testicle thefts, from the erotic frescoes of Pompeii, to modern-day sex doll brothels, Kate unashamedly roots around in the pants of history, debunking myths, challenging stereotypes and generally getting her hands dirty. This fascinating book is peppered with surprising and informative historical slang, and illustrated with eye-opening, toe-curling and meticulously sourced images from the past. You will laugh, you will wince and you will wonder just how much has actually changed.

Author : Simon Szreter
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 1139492896
Total Pages : pages
Book Rating : 4.98/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Sex Before the Sexual Revolution written by Simon Szreter and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2010-10-14 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What did sex mean for ordinary people before the sexual revolution of the 1960s and 1970s, who were often pitied by later generations as repressed, unfulfilled and full of moral anxiety? This book provides the first rounded, first-hand account of sexuality in marriage in the early and mid-twentieth century. These award-winning authors look beyond conventions of silence among the respectable majority to challenge stereotypes of ignorance and inhibition. Based on vivid, compelling and frank testimonies from a socially and geographically diverse range of individuals, the book explores a spectrum of sexual experiences, from learning about sex and sexual practices in courtship, to attitudes to the body, marital ideals and birth control. It demonstrates that while the era's emphasis on silence and strict moral codes could for some be a source of inhibition and dissatisfaction, for many the culture of privacy and innocence was central to fulfilling and pleasurable intimate lives.

Author : Alan F. Dixson
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0199559422
Total Pages : 229 pages
Book Rating : 4.28/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Sexual Selection and the Origins of Human Mating Systems written by Alan F. Dixson and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2009-05-14 with total page 229 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book demonstrates how detailed comparative analyses of the anatomy, reproductive physiology, and behaviour of non-human primates and other mammals can offer profound insights into the origins of human sexual behaviour.