Sexual Strategies: How Females Choose Thier Mates (Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

A provocative exploration of male/female behavior in the animal kingdom and its powerful implications for human relationships. By understanding how females throughout the animal kingdom choose their mates, we see our own complex species with greater clarity and gain greater understanding of human behavior.

About the Author

Mary Batten is an award-winning science writer for print, film, and television. She has scripted more than 50 television films and was nominated for an Emmy for her work on the Children?s Television Workshop?s series 3-2-1 Contact. Her children?s books include Aliens from Earth and Anthropologist: Scientist of the People. Her magazine credits include Cosmopolitan and Modern Maturity. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Tarcher (January 4, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0874777577
• ISBN-13: 978-0874777574
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,652,753 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars fascinating stuff, July 13, 2007

By	Slow Reader - See all my reviews

I found this book very difficult to put down- I read about a quarter of it before I'd even left the bookstore. It covers a lot of ground in a short time, but lots of intriguing findings.

As one reviewer here has already pointed out, while she entertains various interesting ideas and speculations based on the studies and evidence presented, she unfortunately doesn't ever question the underlying assumption that the female SHOULD have all the power in sexual and reproductive matters. And frankly, the discussion suffers when Batten reveals her feminist agenda and, straying quite a bit a couple times, such as going through some contortions to attempt to dismiss all opposition to abortion (as either attempts to assert control over the female's reproductive power, or as an abstract attempt by males to defend their sperm/progeny).

But in all, quite interesting and thought-and-talk provoking.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A good and lively introduction to the reproductive imperative, June 14, 2007

By	L. SAXON - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I was not sure as I began reading this book if it wasn't going to be a little too much of a popularization and a little too crude. But I soon started to appreciate the scope of the book and the inclusion of a wide range of evidence from insects to humans. This book is an accessible introduction to animal (including human) mating sysems and covers a wide range of aspects of reproductive behavior. This is no easy task and the author has done well to explain what can be difficult in a lively and interesting fashion.

The author makes the case for the importance of female mate choice and the misrepresentation of females as passive receivers of sperm from winner males. But she also makes the equally important recognition of the subversion of female mate choice especially in the human species where it has often been brutal.

Batten ends with the conclusion that we, as humans, have the potential to be free of the reproductive imperative though it will take hard work. Valuing male character strength rather than physical strength and arms is one requirement. The alternative is to continue with the reproductive imperative and continue maintaining the most abusive system of male dominance in all of nature and ultimately destroy ourselves by fighting resource wars and pushing ourselves towards extinction.

Recognizing the reproductive imperative behind virtually everything is surely essential. How much we can actually ultimately benefit from this biological consciousness raising no one can know. But if information really is power then using the growing information about ourselves wisely and morally is possibly the only hope we actually have for ourselves as men and women and for survival of this planet and all its species.

This is a very good addition to our increasing biological self-awareness.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Important book for understanding human nature, January 7, 2001

By A Customer

What a breath of fresh air this book is. We live in a society that worships the concepts of love and marriage. It is so enlightening to learn about the natural aspects of animal and human nature without all the distortions of religious and social dogma. I think that a student of evolutionary sexology can probably learn a lot from this book. The average joe will probably be amazed with revelations he gains.