A Natural History of Rape: Biological Bases of Sexual Coercion [Hardcover]

For purposes of this review, I'm torn between attacking specifics and just pointing the reader at the "read an excerpt from this book" hyperlink. Each of the first two paragraphs quoted managed to offend me. They offer an excellent instance of the sort of bias that pervades the entire book, as does the rest of the book quoted there. It also offers an example of the sizzling, highly skilled prose, and the author's "anyone who disagrees with us or thinks we have an agenda is wrong and blinded by their own agenda" debating style. What it doesn't do is fairly capture the indadequacy of the author's research, or their failure to account for the (much greater) body of research that disagrees with them. It gives evidence of, but doesn't fully display, their inability to find flaws in their own logic. It certainly indicates the bias against women in general (unconscious on their part, I believe) and feminists in particular (possibly not so unconscious) that permeates the book.

As a disclaimer, I admit I'm offended as a male by the book's insinuation that I would rape under the right circumstances. As someone who enjoys a free and diverse society, I'm offended by their failure to realize that even if part of their basic theory is true (i.e. some men, at least, have a genetic predisposition to rape), the better take on this problem would be to lock these men up forever and ever, not that women need to take more precautions to keep from provoking the rapists. As someone who likes women, I'm appalled and enraged by the book's take on female psychology. As an example, they say that women of "prime" child bearing age suffer the most trauma from rape, and suggest it is because they fear rejection from their mate and his family. This is a very simple minded take; a more complex and probably more accurate explanation, but one that requires some actual sympathy and understanding towards the victim, not to mention an awareness of cultural factors, rather than a determined dismissal of them, would be to say that IF their theory that "women of child-bearing age" suffer more trauma from rape than children or the elderly is true, the most likely cause might be that many societies as a whole often blame young women for provoking the rapist (in ways like the book's clothing theory) and likewise often excuses the rapist on the same grounds. Children are ALMOST never blamed (a few unfortunate exceptions come to mind), and I can never recall hearing of an elderly woman being told "she asked for it", either directly, or, as this book does, by insinuation. This seems much more likely than the idea that women, even single ones, are primarily concerned about their husband's disapproval. And honestly, even my expanded explanation seems overly reductionist, and I feel vaguely sickened at the thought of quantifying trauma in these cases; that the authors do not is somewhat disturbing.

As a last note, if you are really curious about this book, please borrow it from a friend or check it out of a library; don't pay for it. The idea of anyone making money from these notions, thereby encouraging the publication of more such drivel, really bugs me. END

Understanding that rape is fundamentally "sexual" (that is, for a biologist, ultimately, albeit perhaps unconsciously, about gene propagation) helps to illuminate the circumstances under which virtually any man's probability of being sexually coercive increases. All creatures choose behaviors that, under current their social and environmental conditions, have expected fitness that exceed expected fitness costs as estimated from the perspective of the ancestral environment in which that animal's nervous system (i.e., it mind) evolved. This knowledge provides real insights into (1) the functioning of our own psyches (potentially enabling more personal self-control), and (2) how to tune laws, societal norms, and personal behaviors of both sexes in ways that are maximally effective in preventing and punishing rape, as well as helping its victims.

The largely bimodal reviews of this book here at Amazon should alert one that ideological forces are at work in many evaluations of this book, as well as a lack of understanding of the evolutionary perspective. It is not easy to understand the implications of evolutionary theory for human behavior, nor is it always pleasant. This book will help you understand it if you approach it intellectually, with a critical mind, putting your ideology to the side in your evaluation (which does not mean, of course, that you have to abandon your morals in actual practice).

By the way, do advocates of the traditional violence hypothesis of rape think that violence is not natural and not ultimately, often indirectly, about reproduction? Study nature honestly and you will change your mind about that. Gratuitous violence in nature is rare. All behavior, even highly PC and endearing forms such as play, have compelling Darwinian rationales.

Note that there is no reason to expect that natural selection will design a mind that reliably and consciously understands what it is ultimately up to, what the biological "end game" is about - gene propagation. It does not matter if you are talking about children at play or rapists raping. Ask yourself, if rape is not about sexaul reproduction, why does it typically involve an erection? Then ask, are men typically thinking primarily or at all about having babies when they are sexaully aroused. No, they are just sexually aroused, a state that clearly can be combined with many other emotional states. But it does not matter from the point of view of natural selection what a creature thinks, only that they act in a way which, in the ancestral environment, would have, on average, increased the individual's lifetime reproductive success.

Humans have the unique ability to desire the above-mentioned understanding. To obtain such knowledge it is necessary to check one's subjective personal experiences, biases, and imagination by observing human nature in others and in oneself under an objectifying influence, such as modern science. This book is a major step, not necessarily the final one with respect to rape, in this direction.