Why Is Sex Fun?: The Evolution of Human Sexuality

Jared M Diamond

Sep 1998 · Sold by Basic Books

About this ebook

From the New York Times bestselling author of Upheaval, a fun and wide-ranging exploration of why human sexuality is so different from other animals', and how it made us who we are
To us humans, the sex lives of animals seem weird. But it's our own sex lives that are truly bizarre. We are the only social species to insist on carrying out sex privately. Stranger yet, we have sex at any time, even during periods of infertility, such as pregnancy or post-menopause. A human female doesn't know her precise time of fertility and certainly doesn't advertise it to human males by the striking color changes, smells, and sounds used by other female mammals.
Why do we differ so radically in these and other important aspects of our sexuality from our closest ancestor, the apes? Why does the human female, virtually alone among mammals, go through menopause? Why does the human male stand out as one of the few mammals to stay with the female he impregnates, to help raise the children that he sired? Why is the human penis so unnecessarily large?
There is no one better qualified than Jared Diamond to explain the evolutionary forces that operated on our ancestors to make us so different sexually. With wit and a wealth of fascinating examples, Why Is Sex Fun? shows how our sexuality, as much as our large brains or upright posture, led to human' rise in the animal kingdom.

Ratings and reviews

While a very easy, clearly written read from what was an edgy underexplored topic when it was published in the late '90s, "Why Is Sex Fun?" seems to miss the premise of its title. Diamond breaks down a number of curious evolutions of human sexuality in very digestible form, but never actually brings up the enjoyment of sex or offers a strong conclusion as to why human sexuality is as unique as it is. Also he tends to be very hetero normative and glosses over societal causes for certain sexual behavior.

The hell I don't understand . but is fun

About the author

Jared Diamond is Professor of Geography at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a recipient of the National Medal of Science, a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, the Pulitzer Prize. He is the author of the international best-selling books Guns, Germs, and Steel, Collapse, The World Until Yesterday, and The Third Chimpanzee.