THE EVOLUTION OF DESIRE --- STRATEGIES OF HUMAN MATING by David M. Buss. BasicBooks, 1994
    ACKNOWLEDGMENTS (pix-x)

    CONTENTS

      1) Origins of mating behavior (p1-18)

        Human mating behavior delights and amuses us and galvanizes our gossip. And it is also deeply disturbing. Few domains of human activity generate as much discussions, as many laws, or such elaborate rituals in all cultures.

        Discord and dissolution in mating relationships are typically seen as signs of failure. They are regarded as distortions or perversions of the natural state of married life. They are thought to signal personal inadequacy, immaturity, neurosis, failure of will, or simply poor judgment in the choice of a mate. This view is radically wrong.

        Conflict in mating is the norm and not the exception!

        The problem is complicated by the centrality of love in human life. Feelings of love mesmerize us when we experience them and occupy our fantasies when we do not.

        The pervasiveness of love in all human cultures convinces us that love, with its key components of commitment, tenderness, and passion, is an inevitable part of the human experience, within the grasp of everyone.

        But our failure to understand the real and paradoxical nature of human mating is costly, both scientifically and socially.

        Scientifically, the large amount of objective experimental knowledge leaves unanswered some of life's most puzzling questions, such as why people sacrifice years of their lives to the quest for love and the struggle for relationship.

        Socially, our ignorance leaves us frustrated and helpless when we are bruised by mating behavior gone awry in the workplace, on the dating scene, and in our homes.

        We need to reconcile the profound love that humans seek with the conflict that permeates our most cherished relationships. We need to square our dreams with reality. To understand these baffling contradictions, we must gaze back into our evolutionary past --- a past that has grooved and scored our minds as much as our bodies, our strategies for mating as much as our strategies for survival.

          [1] Evolutionary roots (p2-5)

            Definition of "sexual selection" = The evolution of charactreristics because of their reproductive benefits, rather than survival benefits: (p2-3)

          [2] Sexual strategies (p6-8)

          [3] Attracting a mate (p8-9)

          [4] Keeping a mate (p10-11)

          [5] Replacing a mate (p11-12)

          [6] Conflict between the sexes (p12-14)

          [7] Culture and context (p14-15)

          [8] Barriers to understanding human sexuality (p16-18)

            Evolutionary psychology strives to illuminate men's and women's evolved mating behavior. It does not prescribe what the sexes mating behavior could be or should be. Also it does not offer prescriptions for appropriate sex roles. Thus it does not have any overt political agenda.

            However, in terms of possible "political issues," it is hoped that this information will provide a reliable source of knowledge that will promote equality among all persons regardless of sex, race or preferred sexual strategy. Also it is hoped that this new information will promote a tolerance for the diversity of human sexual behavior and a belief that evolutionary theory should not be erroneously interpreted as implying genetic or biological determinism or impermeability to environmental influences.

            A final source of resistance to "evolutionary psychology" comes from the idealistic views of romance, sexual harmony, and lifelong love to which we all cling. I hold on tightly to these views myself, believing that love has a central place in human sexual psychology. Mating relationships provide some of life's deepest satisfactions, and without them life would seem empty. After all, some people do manage to live happily ever after.

            But we have ignored the truth about human mating for too long. Conflict, competition, and manipulation also pervade human mating. We must recognize these negative factual truths to see them if we are to understand life's most engrossing relationships.

      2) What women want (p19-48)

          "We are walking archives of ancestral wisdom."
          Quote by Helen Cronin in the book The Ant and the Peacock

        [1] Components of desire (p20-22)

        [2] Economic capacity (p22-25)

        [3] Social status (p25-27)

        [4] Age (p27-30)

        [5] Ambition and industriousness (p30-32)

        [6] Dependability and stability (p32-34)

        [7] Intelligence (p34-35)

        [8] Compatibility (p35-38)

        [9] Size and strength (p38-40)

        [10] Good health (p40-41)

        [11] Love and commitment (p41-45)

        [12] When women have power (p45-47)

        [13] Women's many preferences (p47-48)

      3) Men want something else (p49-72)

      4) Casual sex (p73-96)

      5) Attracting a partner (p97-122)

      6) Staying together (p123-141)

      7) Sexual conflict (p142-167)

      8) Breaking up (p168-183)

      9) Changes over time (p183-208)

      10) Harmony between the sexes (p209-222)

          "Everything that every individual has ever done in all of human
          history and prehistory establishes the minimum boundary of the possible."
          Quote by John Tooby and Leda Cosmides in the book The Adopted Mind

        [1] Differences between the sexes (p210-211)

        [2] A feminist veiwpoint (p211-214)

        [3] Diversity in mating strategies (p215-216)

        [4] Cultural variation in mating behavior (p216-218)

        [5] Competition and conflict in the mating arena (p218-220)

        [6] Cooperation between the sexes (p221-222)

    NOTES (p223-234)

    BIBLIOGRAPHY (p235-253)

    INDEX (254-`186)

    INDEX (p187-193)
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