Book Review-ish Thing: Sex At Dawn

Authors and publishers are awfully fond of provocative titles for books, aren't they? I mean, Sex at Dawn just sounds so… sultry! The name immediately conjures up images of a book with cover featuring Fabio shirtless on a horse with a fawning female in the background. That image, however, would be quite wrong.

I'm a big fan of Dan Savage. I like his books, his podcast, his column, his community outreach projects, his television appearances… Yeah, big fan here. On one of his podcasts he made mention of the book Sex at Dawn and I decided that it sounded interesting enough to give it a shot. Dan had mentioned that the book was a look at our pre-historic mating and sexual habits, and that was enough to get me interested.

The books authors, husband and wife team Christopher Ryan and Cacilda Jetha, he a psychologist and she a psychiatrist, set out to make a point: the concept that humanity has always existed in monogamous, pair-bonded couples is just false. The authors systematically take apart the argument that marriage, as it exists today, has always and forever been, therefore it should always and forever be. That same argument is often used to implement restrictions on what kind of relationships will be recognized, what behaviors should be legal, and what men and women should be allowed to do with and to their own bodies. The authors thought it was about time that someone step up and say "You know, that's not how we as a species evolved, so perhaps your arguments are wrong."

Sex at Dawn is a very, very interesting read. It is written with a mix of science, psychology, anthropology and sociology (with plenty and wit and humor in the mix to keep those of us not in academia interested). But it is also an important book in that it challenges the standard definition of what human relationships are by looking at our past.

As you progress through the book, you'll learn that the authors don't believe in the standard model of monogamous marriages as espoused by many modern religions (and some governments). You'll also learn that their disbelief is deeply rooted in our ancestry and our biology. And you'll learn all about the bias some researchers have imposed when referring to marriages throughout differing societies.

I won't spill all of the details of the thorough and complete research and information the authors provided, which includes a very long list of citations and suggested reading. But I will say this: it opened my mind as to what it is to be human, and what kind of rules we impose upon ourselves. It's made me ask how did we get to this point we are now in our history? And, probably most important, is any of what we use to do as a species prior to agriculture and settled societies really relevant to what we do today?

I strongly recommend Sex at Dawn to anyone even remotely interested in the topic of how we, as humanity, evolved into who we are today. While the book is about proposing an alternative view to the current assumptions of many of today's scientists, it's also about getting a much deeper understanding of ourselves. I have a feeling there are some who will not enjoy the book, not because the book is explicitly anti-religious or anything to that nature, but because it does fly in the face of current "common knowledge." But just think about where we would be if no one ever questioned the notion that the world is flat, which was Common Knowledge at one time. There's value in the discussion if nothing else, and I hope that you take the time to check out Sex at Dawn and read up on what is a more realistic view of our evolutionary path.