1st Edition
The Evolution of Human Pair-Bonding, Friendship, and Sexual Attraction Love Bonds
Figures and Tables
Chapter One Initial Introductions
Chapter Two Love, Sex, Marriage, and Family: Different-Sex Mating Pair-Bonds as
an Adaptation
Chapter Three Friends with Benefits: Devoted Same-Sex Friendship as an Adaptation
Chapter Four Life Partners: A Brief History of Devoted Friendships
Chapter Five Labeling Love and People: Sexual Attraction and Identities
References
Index
Biography
Dr. Michael Kauth is Director of LGBT Health in the Department of Veterans Affairs and Professor of Psychiatry at Baylor College of Medicine. He has authored several papers and books on LGBT veteran health, implementation science, and the evolution of sexual attraction.
Early evolutionists saw nature and survival as brutal. Affection and romantic bonds, which arguably played an equal part in human survival, are usually dismissed or limited to facilitating reproduction and parenting. Without the limiting lens of seeing bonds solely in terms of sex acts and reproduction, this elegantly written book finally restores same-sex bonds and sex to our understanding of the roles of culture and society in evolution. It is an overdue and rewarding reconceptualization.
Michael Ross, University of Minnesota Medical School, USA
Dr. Michael Kauth provides an integrated interdisciplinary account of the origin, function, and history of human mating pair-bonds and devoted same-sex friendships, including those that involved sexual intimacy, across history and cultures. His meticulous and well-reasoned analysis leads to the surprising conclusion that sexual attraction is central to both reproduction and friendship.
William Byne, Columbia Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, USA; and Editor-in-Chief, LGBT Health
How did human pair bonds evolve? Why is human friendship so pervasive for H. Sapiens Sapiens? In this intriguing book, Dr. Kauth suggests a great capacity for sexual variation across all human populations. He explores how "devoted friendships," understood in cultural context, reveal specific functions of male alliances for adaptation and survival. Dr. Kauth appeals to future sex researchers to frame their work within historical and cultural context.
Gilbert Herdt, San Francisco State University, USA
