The Cult of Monogamy

Foreword by New York Times Bestselling Author Dr. Shefali

References & Sources

The Ideas Behind the Book

Cult of Monogamy is grounded in research, history, and evolving perspectives on relationships—explore the works that shaped its core arguments

MONOGAMY MYTHS AND PSEUDOGAMY

  1. Wolfgang Haak, “Ancient DNA, Strontium Isotopes, and Osteological Analyses Shed Light on Social and Kinship Organization of the Later Stone Age,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 105, no. 47 (2008):18226–31, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0807592105.
  2. Maïté Rivollat et al., “Extensive Pedigrees Reveal the Social Organization of a Neolithic Community,” Nature 620, no. 7974 (2023): 600–606, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06350-8.
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  4. Joseph Henrich et al., “The Puzzle of Monogamous Marriage,” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 367, no. 1589 (2012): 657–69.
  5. Terri D. Conley et al., “A Critical Examination of Popular Assumptions about the Benefits and Outcomes of Monogamous Relationships,” Personality and Social Psychology Review 21, no. 2 (2017): 126–48. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23175520/
  6. Catherine H. Mercer et al., “Association of Timing of Sexual Partnerships and Perceptions of Monogamy with Sexually Transmitted Infection Diagnosis,” JAMA Network Open 1, no. 7 (2018): 185252. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2718097
  7. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Announcing Sexually Transmitted Infections Surveillance, 2023,” 2023, https://www.cdc.gov/sti/php/from-the-director/announcing-sti-surveillance-2023.html.
  8. Helen Fisher, “Serial Monogamy and Clandestine Adultery: Evolution and Consequences of the Dual Human Reproductive Strategy,” in Sexual Nature, Sexual Culture, ed. Paul R. Abramson and Steven D. Pinkerton (University of Chicago Press, 1992), https://helenfisher.com/serial-monogamy-and-clandestine-adultery-evolution-and-consequences-of-the-du- al-human-reproductive-strategy/.
  9. Laura Betzig, “Causes of Conjugal Dissolution: A Cross-Cultural Study,” Current Anthropology 30, no. 5 (1989): 654–76. https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/203798
  10. Christopher Ryan and Cacilda Jethá, Sex at Dawn: How We Mate, Why We Stray, and What It Means for Modern Relationships (HarperCollins, 2010).
  11. Sarah Blaffer Hrdy, Mothers and Others: The Evolutionary Origins of Mutual Understanding (Harvard University Press, 2009), https://www.thetedkarchive.com/library/sarah-blaffer-hrdy-mothers-and-others?__switch_theme=1.
  12. Christopher Boehm, Hierarchy in the Forest: The Evolution of Egalitarian Behavior (Harvard University Press, 1999), http://cogweb.ucla.edu/Abstracts/Boehm_99.html.
  13. Carles Lalueza-Fox, “Genetic Evidence for Patrilocal Mating Behavior Among Neandertal Groups,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 108, no. 1 (2011): 250–53. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21173265/
  14. David M. Buss and David P. Schmitt, “Sexual Strategies Theory: An Evolutionary Perspective on Human Mating,” Psychological Review 100, no. 2 (1993): 204–32. https://labs.la.utexas.edu/buss/files/2015/09/SexualStrategiesTheory.pdf
  15. Edward O. Laumann et al., The Social Organization of Sexuality: Sexual Practices in the United States (University of Chicago Press, 1994), https://users.manchester.edu/facstaff/rbpettit/Files/Courses/SOC333/Handouts/SexInUS.htm.
  16. Adrian J. Blow and Kelley Hartnett, “Infidelity in Committed Relationships I: A Methodological Review,” Journal of Marital and Family Therapy 31, no. 2 (2005):183–96. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15974058/
  17. David M. Buss and Todd K. Shackelford, “Susceptibility to Infidelity in the First Year of Marriage,” Journal of Research in Personality 31, no. 2 (1997): 193–221. https://labs.la.utexas.edu/buss/files/2015/09/susceptibility-to-infidelity-jrp-1997.pdf
  18. Fisher, “Serial Monogamy and Clandestine Adultery: Evolution and Consequences of the Dual Human Reproductive Strategy.”
  19. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “FastStats: Marriage and Divorce (National Center for Health Statistics, 2025)), https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/marriage-di-
    vorce.htm.
  20. Fisher, “Serial Monogamy and Clandestine Adultery: Evolution and Consequences of the Dual Human Reproductive Strategy.”
  21. Linda Wolfe, The Cosmo Report: Female Sexual Behavior (Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1980).
  1. Blow and Hartnett, “Infidelity in Committed Relationships I: A Methodological Review.”
  2. Buss and Shackelford, “Susceptibility to Infidelity in the First Year of Marriage.”
  3. Z. Bowman et al., Dating Apps and Their Relationship with Body Image, Mental Health, and Wellbeing (Flinders University, 2024),  https://researchnow.flinders.edu.au/files/145142780/Bowman_Dating_P2025.pdf.
  4. Pew Research Center, “Nearly Half of U.S. Adults Say Dating Has Gotten Harder for Most People in the Last 10 Years,” 2020, https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/08/PSDT_08.20.20.dating-relationships.final_.pdf.
  5. Cigna, “2020 U.S. Loneliness Index Fact Sheet,” 2020, https://www.cigna.com/static/www-cigna-com/docs/cigna-2020-loneliness-factsheet.pdf.
  6. Japan Ministr y Health, “Labour and Welfare,” in Quoted in Business Insider (2021). https://www.businessinsider.com/japan-minister-of-loneliness-suicides-rise-pandemic-2021-2
  7. Elisabeth Timmermans and C. Courtois, “From Swiping to Casual Sex and/or Com- mitted Relationships: Exploring the Experiences of Tinder Users,” The Information Society 34, no. 2 (2018): 59–70. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01972243.2017.1414093
  8. Christian Rudder, “The Mathematics of Beauty,” OKCupid Blog, 2011, https://gwern.net/doc/psychology/okcupid/index#rudder-2011-section.
  9. B. Sparks et al., “Involuntary Celibacy: A Review of Incel Ideology and Experiences,” Journal of Sex Research, 2022, https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9780135/.
  10. Michael Bibby, “Why Are so Many Japanese Men Refusing to Leave Their Rooms?,” BBC News Magazine, July 3, 2013, https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-23182523.
  11. Michiko Ueda, “Trends in Frequency of Sex and Number of Sexual Partners Among U.S. Adults, 2000–2018,” JAMA Network Open 3, no. 6 (2020): 203889. https://jama-network.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2767066
  12. Ruth Graham, “The Dating Game,” Brown Alumni Magazine, 2015, https://www.brownalumnimagazine.com/articles/2015-08-31/the-dating-game.
  13. World Bank, “The Fertility Impacts of Development Programs,” 2022, https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/099518407102437684/pdf/IDU1699f7acb- 16ca614fe4199601d8d3c9a94a76.pdf.
  14. Michael W. Wiederman. “Extramarital Sex: Prevalence and Correlates in a National Survey.” Journal of Sex Research 34, no. 2 (1997): 167–174. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00224499709551881
  15. Margaret F. Brinig and Douglas W. Allen, “‘These Boots Are Made for Walking’: Why Most Divorce Filers Are Women,” American Law and Economics Review 2, no.
    1 (2000): 126–69. https://academic.oup.com/aler/article-abstract/2/1/126/141123
  16. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “FastStats: Marriage and Divorce.
  17. Lawrence A. Kurdek, “Change in Relationship Quality for Partners from Lesbian, Gay Male, and Heterosexual Couples,” Journal of Family Psychology 22, no. 5 (2008): 701 11, https://doi.org/10.1037/0893-3200.22.5.701.
  18. North American Menopause Society, “2015 Position Statement of The North American Menopause Society,” Menopause 22, no. 11 (2015): 1155–72. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/284747395_Nonhormonal_management_of_meno-pause-Associated_vasomotor_symptoms_2015_position_statement_of_the_North_American_Menopause_Society
  19. Lauren Vinopal, The Men on OnlyFans Aren’t Only Who You Think (Psychology Today, 2023). https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/dinner-party-smart/202308/men-subscribing-to-onlyfans-are-not-who-you-might-think
  20. S.D.A. Litam et al., “Sexual Attitudes and Characteristics of OnlyFans Users,” Archives of Sexual Behavior 51 (2022): 3093–103. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10508-022-02329-0
  21. Shirley P. Glass and Thomas L. Wright, “Justifications for Extramarital Relation- ships: The Association Between Attitudes, Behaviors, and Gender,” Journal of Sex Research 29, no. 2 (1992): 361–87. https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Justifications-for-extramarital-relationships:-The-Glass-Wright/0c6fb8f2e5f023a7769dae6158b8d8be595ee1c9.
  22. David C. Atkins, et al. “Understanding Infidelity: Correlates in a National Random Sample,” Journal of Family Psychology 15, no. 4 (2001): 735–49. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11770478/.
  23. Lars Penke and Jens B. Asendorpf, “Beyond Global Sociosexual Orientations: A More Differentiated Look at Sociosexuality and Its Effects on Relationship Outcomes,” Journal of Personality 76, no. 5 (2008): 1029–60. https://www.larspenke.eu/pdfs/Penke_Asendorpf_2008_-_SOI-R.pdf

THE EVOLUTIONARY CHASM

  1. Christian Rudder, “Your Looks and Your Inbox,” OKTrends, 2009, https://gwern.net/doc/psychology/okcupid/yourlooksandyourinbox.html.
  2. Christian Rudder, Dataclysm: Who We Are When We Think No One’s Looking (Crown Publishers, 2014).
  3. Elizabeth E. Bruch and M.E.J. Newman, “Aspirational Pursuit of Mates in Online Dating Markets,” Science Advances 4, no. 8 (2018): 9815. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aap9815
  4. Marina F. Thomas et al., “99 + Matches but a Spark Ain’t One: Adverse Psychological Effects of Excessive Swiping on Dating Apps,” Telematics and Informatics 78 (2023): 101949. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0736585323000138
  5. Rudder, Dataclysm: Who We Are When We Think No One’s Looking.
  6. Litam et al., “Sexual Attitudes and Characteristics of OnlyFans Users.”
  7. Jason V. Owens, “Ashley Madison: 11 Million Men vs. 2,000 Women,” ed. Lynch and Owens, 2015, https://www.lynchowens.com/blog/2015/august/ashley-madison-11-million-men-vs-2-000-women/.
  8. Lena Gunnarsson and Sofia Strid, “Chemistry or Service? Sugar Daddies’ (Re)Quest for Mutuality within the Confines of Commercial Exchange,” Journal of Sex Research 59, no. 3 (2022): 309–20. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10.1080/00224499.2021.1952155?needAccess=true
  9. J.Michael Plavcan, “Sexual Dimorphism in Primate Evolution,” Yearbook of Physical Anthropology 44, Suppl 33 (2001): 25–53. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ajpa.10011
  10. Monika Karmin et al., “A Recent Bottleneck of Y Chromosome Diversity Coincides with a Global Change in Culture,” Genome Research 25, no. 4 (2015): 459–66. https://genome.cshlp.org/content/25/4/459.full.pdf
  11. M. Ingman et al., “Mitochondrial Genome Variation and the Origin of Modern Humans,” Nature 408, no. 6813 (2000): 708–13. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11130070/
  12. Karmin et al., “A Recent Bottleneck of Y Chromosome Diversity Coincides with a Global Change in Culture.”
  13. Ingman et al., “Mitochondrial Genome Variation and the Origin of Modern Humans.”
  14. Alexandra Alvergne et al., “Variation in Testosterone Levels and Male Reproductive Effort: Insight from a Polygynous Human Population,” Hormones and Behavior 56, no.5 (2009): 491–97. http://www.evolutionhumaine.fr/pdf_articles/alvergne_2009_hormones_behavior.pdf
  15. John T. Manning, Digit Ratio: A Pointer to Fertility, Behavior, and Health (Rutgers University Press, 2002).
  16. Claudia Schmiedeberg and Jette Schröder, “Does Sexual Satisfaction Change With Relationship Duration?,” Archives of Sexual Behavior 45, no. 1 (2016): 99–107. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26246315/
  17. David P. Barash and Judith Eve Lipton, The Myth of Monogamy: Fidelity and Infidelity in Animals and People (W. H. Freeman, 2001).
  18. Margo Wilson and Martin Daly, “The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Chattel,” in The Best American Science and Nature Writing, ed. Robert Wright (Houghton Mifflin, 1992), https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1992-98504-007.
  19. Glenn D. Wilson, “Male-Female Differences in Sexual Arousal and Habituation,” Archives of Sexual Behavior 16, no. 5 (1987): 411–21. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0191886987900195
  20. Marvin Zuckerman, “Physiological Measures of Sexual Arousal in the Human,” Psychological Bulletin 75, no. 5 (1971): 297–329. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/4931713/
  21. Donald A. Dewsbury, “Effects of Novelty on Copulatory Behavior: The Coolidge Effect and Related Phenomena,” Psychological Bulletin 89, no. 3 (1981): 464–82. https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2F0033-2909.89.3.464
  1. Nina Wedell et al., “Sperm Competition, Male Prudence and Sperm-Limited Females,” Trends in Ecology & Evolution 17, no. 7 (2002): 313–20. https://research-portal.uea.ac.uk/en/publications/sperm-competition-male-prudence-and-sperm-limited-females
  2. Gordon Bermant and William Westbrook, “Observations on the Refractory Period in the Male Rat,” Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology 62, no. 3 (1966): 460–62.
  3. J. G. Pfaus. “Frank A. Beach Award.“Homologies of Animal and Human Sexual Behaviors,” Hormones and Behavior 30, no. 3 (1996): 187–200. https://www.science-direct.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0018506X96900240?via%3Dihub
  4. Heather Morton and Boris B. Gorzalka, “Role of Partner Novelty in Sexual Functioning: A Review,” Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy 41, no. 6 (2015): 593–609, https://doi.org/10.1080/0092623X.2014.958788.

THE TRANCE: INSTITUTIONS OF LOVE AND CONTROL

  1. Karen Palin, “The History of Marriage! (In Brief,” Genes Genie, 2020, https://www.genesgenie.org/post/the-history-of-marriage-in-brief.

 

INCONVENIENT TRUTHS: UNEQUAL ISNT INEQUAL

  1. Pew Research Center, “Exploring Different Ways of Asking About Evolution,” 2019, https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2019/02/06/the-evolution-of-pew-research-centers-survey-questions-about-the-origins-and-development-of-life-on-earth/.
  2. Gary Chapman, The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love That Lasts (Northfield
    Publishing, 1992).
  3. John Gray, Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus (HarperCollins, 1992).
  4. Alan F. Dixson, Sexual Selection and the Origins of Human Mating Systems (Oxford University Press, 2009), https://www.researchgate.net/publication/260981469_Dixson_A_F_2009_Sexual_selection_and_the_Origins_of_Human_Mating_Systems_Oxford_University_Press_UK.
  5. E. Levitas et al., “Relationship between Age and Semen Parameters in Men with Normal Sperm Concentration: Analysis of 6022 Semen Samples,” International Journal of Andrology 30, no. 1 (2007): 409–13. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1439-0272.2007.00761.x
  6. G.A. Parker, “Sperm Competition and Its Evolutionary Consequences in the Insects,” Biological Reviews 45, no. 4 (1970): 525–67. https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/516718
  7. A.H. Harcourt et al., “Testis Weight, Body Weight and Breeding System in Primates,” Nature 293, no. 5827 (1981): 55–57. https://www.nature.com/articles/293055a0
  8. John Archer, “Testosterone and Human Aggression: An Evaluation of the Challenge Hypothesis,” Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 30, no. 3 (2006): 319–45. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16483890/
  9. Alan F. Dixson, “Sperm Competition in Humans: Implications for Male Sexual Psychology, Physiology, Anatomy and Behavior,” Advances in the Study of Behavior 27 (1998): 1–50.
  10. Mary F. Willson and Nancy Burley, Mate Choice in Plants: Tactics, Mechanisms, and Consequences (Princeton University Press, 1983), https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Mate-choice-in-plants%3A-tactics%2C-mechanisms-and-Willson-Burley/ac71f4d52bea9f41a725551f6d6a77577ba0f27f.
  11. Nancy Burley, “The Evolution of Concealed Ovulation,” American Naturalist 114, no. 6 (1979): 835–58. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2460555
  12. Steven W. Gangestad and Randy Thornhill, “Women’s Sexual Interests Across the Ovulatory Cycle,” Evolutionary Psychology 6, no. 1 (2008): 147–59. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/9781119125563.evpsych114
  1. J.R. Wilson et al., “Modification in the Sexual Behavior of Male Rats Produced by Changing the Stimulus Female,” Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology 56, no. 3 (1963): 636–44. https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Fh0042469
  2. Kent C. Berridge and Terry E. Robinson, “What Is the Role of Dopamine in Reward: Hedonic Impact, Reward Learning, or Incentive Salience?,” Brain Research Reviews 28, no. 3 (1998): 309–69, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0165-0173(98)00019-8.
  3. Gordon G. Gallup, “The Human Penis as a Semen Displacement Device,” Evolution and Human Behavior 24, no. 5 (2003): 277–89. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1090513803000163
  4. Robin Baker and Mark A. Bellis, Human Sperm Competition: Copulation, Masturbation, and Infidelity (Chapman & Hall, 1995), https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Robin-Baker-3/publication/314041907_Human_Sperm_Competition/links/5b9a7cc945851574f7c46830/Human-Sperm-Competition.pdf.
  5. Michael Gurven and Kim Hill, “Why Do Men Hunt? A Reevaluation of ‘Man the Hunter’ and the Sexual Division of Labor,” Current Anthropology 50, no. 1 (2009): 51–74. https://gurven.anth.ucsb.edu/sites/secure.lsit.ucsb.edu.anth.d7_gurven/files/sitefiles/papers/gurvenhill2009.pdf
  6. A. Deb, “Gender Egalitarianism in Hunter-Gatherers,” in Encyclopedia of Sexual Psychology and Behavior, ed. Todd K. Shackelford (Springer, 2023), https://www.researchgate.net/publication/377068279_Gender_Egalitarianism_in_Hunter-Gatherers.
  7. T.H. Clutton-Brock, “Size, Sexual Dimorphism and Polygyny in Primates,” in Primate Ecology and Conservation, ed. P.G.H. Fleming (Academic Press, 1985).
  8. S. Thorén et al., “Phylogenetic Analyses of Dimorphism in Primates: Evidence for Stronger Selection on Canine Size than on Body Size,” American Journal of Physical Anthropology 130, no. 1 (2006): 50–59. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/7425134_Phylogenetic_analyses_of_dimorphism_in_primates_Evidence_for_stronger_selection_on_canine_size_than_on_body_size
  9. Thorén et al., “Phylogenetic Analyses of Dimorphism in Primates: Evidence for Stronger Selection on Canine Size than on Body Size.”

WHY MEN WANT SO MUCH SEX

  1. Carole Hooven, T: The Story of Testosterone, the Hormone That Dominates and Divides Us (Henry Holt and Co, 2021).
  2. Ian S. Penton-Voak et al., “Menstrual Cycle Alters Face Preference,” Nature 399, no. 6738 (1999): 741–42. https://www.nature.com/articles/21557
  3. David A. Puts, “Mating Context and Menstrual Phase Affect Women’s Preferences for Male Voice Pitch,” Evolution and Human Behavior 26, no. 5 (2005): 388–97. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1090513805000176?via%3Dihub
  4. Julie Holland, Moody Bitches: The Truth About the Drugs You’re Taking, the Sleep You’re Missing, the Sex You’re Not Having, and What’s Really Making You Crazy (Penguin Books, 2015).
  5. Holland, Moody Bitches: The Truth About the Drugs You’re Taking, the Sleep You’re Missing, the Sex You’re Not Having, and What’s Really Making You Crazy.
  6. Louis J.G. Gooren, “The Biology of Human Psychosexual Differentiation,” Hormones and Behavior 50, no. 4 (2006): 589–601. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0018506X06001462
  7. Susan R. Davis and Jane Tran, “Testosterone Influences Libido and Well Being in Women,” Trends in Endocrinology & Metabolism 12, no. 1 (2001): 33–37. https://research.monash.edu/en/publications/testosterone-influences-libido-and-well-being-in-women
  8. Rupert P. Amann, “Sperm Production Rates,” in The Testis, vol. 1, ed. A.D. Johnson and W.R. Gomes (Academic Press, 1970).
  9. James M. Dabbs and Samiya Mohammed, “Male and Female Salivary Testosterone Concentrations Before and After Sexual Activity,” Physiology & Behavior 52, no. 1 (1992): 195–97. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1529008/
  10. Louann Brizendine, The Male Brain (Broadway Books, 2010).
  11. D.F. Swaab and E. Fliers, “A Sexually Dimorphic Nucleus in the Human Brain,” Science 228, no. 4703 (1985): 1112–15, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.3992248.
  12. Louann Brizendine, The Female Brain (Broadway Books, 2006).
  1. Stephen B. Levine, “The Nature of Sexual Desire: A Clinician’s Perspective,” Archives of Sexual Behavior 32, no. 3 (2003): 279–85. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12807300/
  2. Stuart Brody and Rui Miguel Costa, “Satisfaction (Sexual, Life, Relationship, and Mental Health) Is Associated Directly with Penile–Vaginal Intercourse, but Inversely with Other Sexual Behavior Frequencies,” Journal of Sexual Medicine 6, no. 7 (2009): 1947–54. https://academic.oup.com/jsm/article-abstract/6/7/1947/6834348?redirectedFrom=fulltext&login=false
  3. Roy F. Baumeister and Kathleen D. Vohs, “Sexual Economics, Culture, Men, and Modern Sexual Trends,” Society, 2012, 418–23. https://carlsonschool.umn.edu/sites/carlsonschool.umn.edu/files/2019-04/baumeister_vohs_society_2012_0.pdf
  4. Russell D. Clark and Elaine Hatfield, “Gender Differences in Receptivity to Sexual Offers,” Journal of Psychology and Human Sexuality 2, no. 1 (1989): 39–55. https://www2.hawaii.edu/~elaineh/79.pdf
  5. Devendra Singh, “Adaptive Significance of Female Physical Attractiveness: Role of Waist-to-Hip Ratio,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 65, no. 2 (1993): 293–307. https://labs.psych.ucsb.edu/roney/james/other%20pdf%20readings/Singh%2520Adaptive%2520Significance%2520of%2520WHR.pdf
  6. Devendra Singh and Randy Young, “Body Weight, Waist-to-Hip Ratio, Breasts, and Hips: Role in Judgments of Female Attractiveness and Desirability for Relationships,” Ethology and Sociobiology 16, no. 6 (1995): 483–507. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0162309595000747
  7. Frank Marlowe et al., “Men’s Preferences for Women’s Phenotype in the Hadza of Tanzania,” Evolution and Human Behavior 26, no. 6 (2005): 458–68.
  8. Devendra Singh, et al. “Cross-Cultural Consensus for Waist–Hip Ratio and Women’s Attractiveness,” Evolution and Human Behavior 31, no. 3 (2010): 176–81. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1090513809000889
  9. Barnaby J. Dixson, “Studies of Human Physique and Sexual Attractiveness: Sexual Preferences of Men and Women in China,” American Journal of Human Biology 19, no. 1 (2007): 88–95. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ajhb.20584
  10. Barnaby J. Dixson et al., “Eye-Tracking of Men’s Preferences for Waist-to-Hip Ratio and Breast Size of Women,” Archives of Sexual Behavior 40, no. 1 (2011): 43–50. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19688590/
  11. Desmond Morris, The Naked Ape: A Zoologist’s Study of the Human Animal (McGraw Hill Book Company, 1967).
  12. Geoffrey F. Miller, The Mating Mind: How Sexual Choice Shaped the Evolution of Human Nature (Anchor Books, 2000).
  13. Dixson, Sexual Selection and the Origins of Human Mating Systems.
  14. Nigel Barber, “The Evolutionary Psychology of Physical Attractiveness: Sexual Selection and Human Morphology,” Ethology and Sociobiology 16, no. 5 (1995): 395–424. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0162309595000682?via%3Dihub
  15. Gordon G. Gallup, “The Science of Sex Appeal: An Evolutionary Perspective,” (Review), University at Albany, State University of New York, 1982.
  16. Frank W. Marlowe, “The Nubility Hypothesis: The Human Breast as an Honest Signal of Residual Reproductive Value,” Human Nature 9, no. 3 (1998): 263–71. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26197484/
  17. In International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ISAPS). “ISAPS International Survey on Aesthetic/Cosmetic Procedures Performed in 2022.” Released (2023), https://www.isaps.org/media/a0qfm4h3/isaps-global-survey_2022.pdf.

THE VITAL ROLE OF ALPHA

  1. Waal and Frans B. M, Chimpanzee Politics: Power and Sex Among Apes (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1982).
  2. Waal and Frans B. M, Our Inner Ape: A Leading Primatologist Explains Why We Are Who We Are (Riverhead Books, 2007).
  3. Christophe Boesch, “Male Competition and Paternity in Wild Chimpanzees of the Taï Forest,” American Journal of Physical Anthropology 130 (2006): 103–15. https://www.eva.mpg.de/documents/Wiley-Blackwell/Boesch_Male_AmJPhysAnthr_2006_1555192.pdf
  4. Robert M. Sapolsky, “The Influence of Social Hierarchy on Primate Health,” Science 308, no. 5722 (2005): 648–52. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15860617/
  1. M. Muller and R. Wrangham, “Dominance, Aggression and Testosterone in Wild Chimpanzees: A Test of the ‘Challenge Hypothesis,’” Animal Behaviour 31, no. 2 (2004): 3–12. https://www.semanticschola .org/paper/Dominance, aggression-and-testoster-one-in-wild-a-of-Muller Wrangham/412f332f2436d 502ee41c3457882777b80b 71c
  2. Puts, “Mating Context and Menstrual Phase Affect Women’s Preferences for Male Voice Pitch.”
  3. Ian S. Penton-Voak and D.I. Perrett, “Female Preference for Male Faces Changes Cyclically: Further Evidence,” Evolution and Human Behavior 20, no. 6 (1999): 433–40. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1090513899000331
  4. David A. Frederick and Martie G. Haselton, “Why Is Muscularity Sexy? Tests of the Fitness Indicator Hypothesis,” Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 33, no. 8 (2007): 1167–83. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0146167207303022
  5. Gert Stulp et al., “Are Human Mating Preferences with Respect to Height Reflected in Actual Pairings?,” PLoS ONE 8, no. 1 (2013): 54186. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0054186
  6. Steven W. Gangestad and R. Thornhill, “Human Oestrus,” Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 275, no. 1637 (2008): 2371–78. https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2007.1425
  7. Laura Betzig, “Means, Variances, and Ranges in Reproductive Success: Comparative Evidence,” Evolutionary Human Behavior 33, no. 4 (2012): 273–87. http://www.laurabetzig.org/pdf/EHB12-1.pdf
  8. Karmin et al., “A Recent Bottleneck of Y Chromosome Diversity Coincides with a Global Change in Culture.”
  9. Boesch, “Male Competition and Paternity in Wild Chimpanzees of the Taï Forest.” https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16353223/ 
  10. Emily E. Wroblewski et al., “Male Dominance Rank and Reproductive Success in Chimpanzees, Pan Troglodytes Schweinfurthii,” Animal Behaviour 77, no. 4 (2009): 873–85. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0003347209000074?via%3Dihub
  11. Yan Deng and Yong Zheng, “Mate-Choice Copying in Single and Coupled Women: The Influence of Mate Acceptance and Mate Rejection Decisions of Other Women,” Evolutionary Psychology 13, no. 1 (2015), https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10481002/.
  12. Karmin et al., “A Recent Bottleneck of Y Chromosome Diversity Coincides with a
    Global Change in Culture.”
  13. George Peter Murdock, Ethnographic Atlas (University of Pittsburgh Press, 1967), https://openlibrary.org/books/OL5543563M/Ethnographic_atlas.
  14. Jared Diamond, Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies (W.W. Norton, 1997).
  15. Karmin et al., “A Recent Bottleneck of Y Chromosome Diversity Coincides with a Global Change in Culture.”
  16. A. Plesnar-Bielak et al., “Mating System Affects Population Performance and Extinction Risk under Environmental Challenge,” Proceedings of the Royal Society B 279, no. 1747 (2012): 4661–67. https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2012.1867
  17. Alyson J. Lumley, “Sexual Selection Protects against Extinction,” Nature 522, no. 7557 (2015): 470–73. https://www.nature.com/articles/nature14419
  18. C.Sue Carter, “Neuroendocrine Perspectives on Social Attachment and Love,”
    Psychoneuroendocrinology 23, no. 8 (1998): 779–818, https://doi.org/10.1016/
    S0306-4530(98)00055-9.
  19. Shelley E. Taylor et al., “Health Psychology: What Is an Unhealthy Environment and
    How Does It Get under the Skin?,” Annual Review of Psychology 51, no. 1 (2000):
    453–85. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/14163799_Health_Psychology_
    What_is_an_Unhealthy_Environment_and_How_Does_It_Get_under_the_Skin
  20. David A. Puts, “Women’s Attractiveness Changes with Estradiol and Progesterone
    across the Ovulatory Cycle,” Hormones and Behavior 63, no. 1 (2013): 13–19. https://
    pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23159480/
  21. James R. Roney and Zachary L. Simmons, “Hormonal Predictors of Sexual Motivation in Natural Menstrual Cycles,” Hormones and Behavior 63, no. 4 (2013): 636–45. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0018506X13000482
  1. Elisabeth A. Lloyd, The Case of the Female Orgasm: Bias in the Science of Evolution (Harvard University Press, 2005), https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/F040AFDFA6A2A03E1B8B60F7C909B598/S1832427400006150a.pdf/the-case-of-female-orgasm-bias-in-the-science-of-evolutionelisabeth-a-lloyd-2005-cambridge-harvard-university-press-311-pp-us2795-isbn-0-674-01706-4.pdf.
  2. Debby Herbenick et al., “An Event-Level Analysis of the Sexual Characteristics and Composition Among Adults Ages 18 to 59: Results From a National Probability Sample in the United States,” Journal of Sexual Medicine 7, suppl. s5 (2010): 346–61.
    https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21029390/
  3. Edward O. Laumann et al., The Social Organization of Sexuality: Sexual Practices in the United States (University of Chicago Press, 1994), https://users.manchester.edu/ facstaff/rbpettit/Files/Courses/SOC333/Handouts/SexInUS.htm.
  4. Kevin MacDonald and Tina Marie MacDonald, “The Peptide That Binds: A Sys-
    tematic Review of Oxytocin and Its Prosocial Effects in Humans,” Harvard Review of Psychiatry 18, no. 1 (2010): 1–21, https://doi.org/10.3109/10673220903523615.
  5. Carter, “Neuroendocrine Perspectives on Social Attachment and Love.”
  6. Simone G. Shamay-Tsoory and Ahmad Abu-Akel, “The Social Salience Hypothesis of Oxytocin,” Biological Psychiatry 79, no. 3 (2016): 194–202, https://doi.org/10.1016/j. biopsych.2015.07.020.
  7. Christopher S. Gabor et al., “Interplay of Oxytocin, Vasopressin, and Sex Hormones in the Regulation of Social Recognition,” Behavioral Neuroscience 126, no. 1 (2012): 97–109, https://doi.org/10.1037/a0026464.
  8. Donatella Marazziti et al., “Sex-Related Differences in Plasma Oxytocin Levels in Humans,” Clinical Practice & Epidemiology in Mental Health 15, no. 1 (2019): 58–64, https://doi.org/10.2174/1745017901915010058.
  9. “The Family Law Menopause Project and Newson Health Research and Education. “New Research: 73% of Women Believe Menopause Was a Contributing Factor in Their Divorce,” 2022. https://www.womanandhome.com/life/world-menopause-day-2022-study-reveals-73-of-women-believe-menopause-was-a-contributing-factor-in-their-divorce/
  10. J. Machado, “Mucosal Immunity in the Female Genital Tract, HIV/AIDS,” Current HIV/AIDS Reports 6, no. 1 (2009): 19–26. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4181941/
  11. L. Lohner et al., “Vaginal Injuries after Consensual Sexual Intercourse: A Survey among Office-Based Gynecologists in Hamburg, Germany,” Forensic Science, Medicine and Pathology 18, no. 3 (2022): 352–58. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/361403149_Vaginal_injuries_after_consensual_sexual_intercourse_-_a_survey_among_office-based_gynecologists_in_Hamburg_Germany
  12. R.M. Brotman, “Bacterial Vaginosis Assessed by Gram Stain and Diminished Colonization by Lactobacillus Species and Elevated Vaginal pH,” Sexually Transmitted Diseases 37, no. 12 (2010): 745–50. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3053135/
  13. Sujatha Srinivasan, “Bacterial Communities in Women with Bacterial Vaginosis,” PLoS ONE 7, no. 6 (2012): 37818. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0037818
  14. Jennifer E. Allsworth and Jeffrey F. Peipert, “Prevalence of Bacterial Vaginosis: 2001-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey Data,” Obstetrics & Gynecology 109, no. 1 (2007): 114–20. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17197596/
  15. Katharine J. Looker, “Global and Regional Estimates of Prevalent and Incident Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 Infections in 2012,” PLoS ONE 10, no. 10 (2015): 0140765. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0140765
  16. “Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Sexually Transmitted Disease Surveillance 2021,” 2021, https://www.cdc.gov/sti-statistics/media/pdfs/2024/07/2021-STD-Surveillance-Report-PDF_ARCHIVED-2-16-24.pdf.
  17. “Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Sexually Transmitted Disease Surveillance 2021.”
  18. Brotman, “Bacterial Vaginosis Assessed by Gram Stain and Diminished Colonization by Lactobacillus Species and Elevated Vaginal pH.”
  19. Patrick M. Schlievert and Catherine Davis, “Device-Associated Menstrual Toxic Shock Syndrome,” Clinical Microbiology Reviews 33, no. 3 (2020): 00032–19. https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/cmr.00032-19
  1. Ingrid M. Linhares, “The Vaginal Microbiome: New Findings Bring New Opportunities,” Drug Development Research 72, no. 2 (2011): 120–26. https://analyticalsciencejournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ddr.21090
  2. Bisiayo Fashemi, “Effects of Feminine Hygiene Products on the Vaginal Mucosal Biome,” Microbial Ecology in Health and Disease 24 (2013): 19703. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3758931/
  3. Miranda A. Farage, “Vulvar Susceptibility to Contact Irritants and Allergens: A Review,” Contact Dermatitis 51, no. 4 (2004): 201–14. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15906051/
  4. B.S. Czerwinski, “Variation in Feminine Hygiene Practices as a Function of Age,” Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, and Neonatal Nursing 29, no. 6 (2000): 625–33. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11110333/

THE TRUTH BEHIND OUR SEXUAL CHASMS

  1. Suzanne L. West et al., “Prevalence of Low Sexual Desire and Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder in Women in the United States: Prevalence and Predictors,” Archives of Internal Medicine 168 13 (2008): 1441–49, https://doi.org/10.1001/archinte.168.13.1441.
  2. Meredith L. Chivers et al., “A Sex Difference in the Specificity of Sexual Arousal,” Psychological Science 15, no. 11 (2004): 736–44. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15482445/
  3. Buss and Schmitt, “Sexual Strategies Theory: An Evolutionary Perspective on Human Mating.”
  4. Robert L. Trivers, “Parental Investment and Sexual Selection,” in Sexual Selection and the Descent of Man, 1871–1971, ed. Bernard Campbell (Aldine Publishing Company, 1972), https://www2.nau.edu/~shuster/shustercourses/BIO%20698/Literature/Trivers%201972.pdf.
  5. Sarah Blaffer Hrdy, “Meet the Alloparents,” Natural History Magazine, 2009, https:// www.researchgate.net/publication/351130627_Meet_the_Alloparentshttps://www.naturalhistorymag.com/htmlsite/0409/0409_feature.pdf.
  6. David M. Buss, “Sex Differences in Human Mate Preferences: Evolutionary Hypotheses Tested in 37 Cultures,” Behavioral and Brain Sciences 12, no. 1 (1989): 1–49. https://labs.la.utexas.edu/buss/files/2015/10/buss-1989-sex-differences-in-human-mate-preferences.pdf
  7. Douglas T. Kenr ick and R ichard C. Ke efe, “Age Preferences in Mates Reflect Sex Differences in Human Reproductive Strategies,” Behavioral and Brain Sciences 15, no. 1 (1992): 75–133. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/behavioral-and brain-sciences/article/abs/age-preferences-in-mates-reflect-sex-differences-in-human-reproductive-strategies/BE5CDF43F525E472B4B0C00DBE5EC74F
  8. Henry G. Burger, “Physiology and Endocrinology of the Menopause,” Medicine 34, no. 1 (2006): 27–30. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1357303906002994
  9. Elizabeth Barrett-Connor and Gail A. Laughlin, “Endogenous and Exogenous Estrogen, Cognitive Function, and Dementia in Postmenopausal Women: Evidence from Epidemiologic Studies and Clinical Trials,” Seminars in Reproductive Medicine 27, no. 3 (2009): 275–82. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2701737/
  10. K. Hawkes et al., “Hadza Women’s Time Allocation, Offspring Provisioning, and the Evolution of Long Postmenopausal Life Spans,” Current Anthropology 38, no. 4 (1997): 551–77. https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/204646
  11. “The Family Law Menopause Project and Newson Health Research and Education. “New Research: 73% of Women Believe Menopause Was a Contributing Factor in Their Divorce.
  12. Parker, “Sperm Competition and Its Evolutionary Consequences in the Insects.” 181 Amanda N. Gesselman, “The Lifelong Orgasm Gap: Exploring Age’s Impact on Orgasm Rates,” Sexual Medicine Open Access 12, no. 3 (2024): 042. https://academic.oup.com/smoa/article/12/3/qfae042/7702123?login=fals
  13. David A. Frederick, “Differences in Orgasm Frequency Among Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Heterosexual Men and Women in a U.S. National Sample,” Archives of Sexual Behavior 47, no. 1 (2018): 273–88. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28213723/
  14. Ashley E. Thompson and E.Sandra Byers, “Heterosexual Young Adults’ Interest, Attitudes, and Experiences Related to Mixed-Gender, Multi-Person Sex,” Archives of Sexual Behavior 46, no. 3 (2017): 813–22, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-016-0699-1.

THE DIRE, DEADLY CONSEQUENCES OF MONOGAMY

  1. Paul R. Amato and Denise Previti, “People’s Reasons for Divorcing: Gender, Social Class, the Life Course, and Adjustment,” Journal of Family Issues 24, no. 5 (2003): 602–26. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0192513X03254507
  2. Atkins, “Understanding Infidelity: Correlates in a National Random Sample.”
  3. Pew Research Center, “Nearly Half of U.S. Adults Say Dating Has Gotten Harder for Most People in the Last 10 Years.”
  4. Kiley Hurst, More Young Women Than Men Have College Degrees, Including in Every Major Racial and Ethnic Group (Pew Research Center, 2024), https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/11/18/us-women-are-outpacing-men-in-college-completion-including-in-every-major-racial-and-ethnic-group/.
  5. Richard Fry, Young Women Earn More Than Young Men in Several U.S. Cities (Pew Research Center, 2022), https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2022/03/28/young-women-are-out-earning-young-men-in-several-u-s-cities/.
  6. Alan R. Teo, “A New Form of Social Withdrawal in Japan: A Review of Hikikomori,” International Journal of Social Psychiatry 56, no. 2 (2010): 178–85. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19567455/
  7. Ueda, “Trends in Frequency of Sex and Number of Sexual Partners Among U.S. Adults, 2000–2018.”
  8. Gangestad and Thornhill, “Women’s Sexual Interests Across the Ovulatory Cycle.”
  9. 192 Brinig and Allen, “‘These Boots Are Made for Walking’: Why Most Divorce Filers Are Women.”
  10. Gunnar Andersson et al., “The Demographics of Same-Sex Marriages in Norway and Sweden,” Demography 43, no. 1 (2006): 79–98. https://www.demogr.mpg.de/papers/working/wp-2004-018.pdf
  11. World Bank, “Fertility Rate, Total (Births per Woman,” Gender Data Portal, n.d., https://genderdata.worldbank.org/en/indicator/sp-dyn-tfrt-in.
  12. Jessica Klein, “The Millennials in Sexless Marriages,” BBC Worklife, 2022, https:// www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20221019-the-millennials-in-sexless-marriages.
  13. Kristen P. Mark, “Good in Bed Survey on Sexual Adventurousness,” 2012, https:// www.kristenmark.com/good-in-bed-survey-on-sexual-adventurousness/.
  14. West et al., “Prevalence of Low Sexual Desire and Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder in Women in the United States: Prevalence and Predictors.”
  15. Brinig and Allen, “‘These Boots Are Made for Walking’: Why Most Divorce Filers Are Women.
  16. Glass and Wright, “Justifications for Extramarital Relationships: The Association Between Attitudes, Behaviors, and Gender.”
  17. Ros Clubb and Georgia Mason, “Animal Welfare: Captivity Effects on Wide-Ranging Carnivores,” Nature 425 (2003): 473 74. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2003Natur.425..473C/abstract
  18. Ros Clubb et al., “Compromised Survivorship in Zoo Elephants,” Science 322, no. 5908 (2008): 1649. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19074339/
  19. John Jett and J. Ventre, “Captive Killer Whale (Orcinus Orca) Survival,” Marine Mammal Science 31, no. 4 (2015): 1362–77. https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Captive-killer-whale-(Orcinus-orca)-survival-Jett-Ventre/bb61e1d77a2e4ae75f6670fd704a54a46ce48167
  20. Robert Waldinger, “What Makes a Good Life? Lessons from the Longest Study on Happiness,” in TEDxBeaconStreet (2015), https://www.ted.com/talks/robert_waldinger_what_makes_a_good_life_lessons_from_the_longest_study_on_happiness.
  21. Bruce S. McEwen, “Stress, Adaptation, and Disease: Allostasis and Allostatic Load,”in Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 840 (1998), https://nyaspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1749-6632.1998.tb09546.x.
  22. Robert M. Sapolsky, Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers: The Acclaimed Guide to Stress, Stress-Related Diseases, and Coping, 3rd ed. (Henry Holt, 2004).
  23. Margaret E. Kemeny, “The Psychobiology of Stress,” Current Directions in Psychological Science 12, no. 4 (2003): 124–29. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1467-8721.01246
  1. Suzanne C. Segerstrom and Gregory E. Miller, “Psychological Stress and the Human Immune System: A Meta-Analytic Study of 30 Years of Inquiry,” Psychological Bulletin 130, no. 4 (2004): 601–30. https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/bul-1304601.pdf
  2. Gail Ironson, “Positive Psychology and Health: Well-Being, Hope, and Optimism as Predictors of Cardiovascular Disease, Cancer, and Other Health Outcomes,” in Oxford Handbook of Positive Psychology, 3rd ed., ed. Shane J. Lopez and C.R. Snyder (Oxford University Press, 2018).
  3. Laura D. Kubzansky and Rebecca C. Thurston, “Emotional Vitality and Incident Coronary Heart Disease: Benefits of Healthy Psychological Functioning,” Archives of General Psychiatry 64, no. 12 (2007): 1393–401. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/fullarticle/482515
  4. Buss and Schmitt, “Sexual Strategies Theory: An Evolutionary Perspective on Human Mating.”
  5. Will H. Courtenay, “Behavioral Factors Associated with Disease, Injury, and Death among Men: Evidence and Implications for Prevention,” Journal of Men’s Studies 9, no. 1 (2000): 81–142. https://www.uni-hohenheim.de/fileadmin/einrich-tungen/hcecon/Dateien_und_Bilder/Dateien/Gender_und_Gesundheit/SS_10/Courtenay__2003__-_Key_determinants_of_the_health_and_the_well-being_of_men_and_boys.pdf
  6. World Health Organization, “Suicide,” WHO Fact Sheets, 2019, https://www.who.int/health-topics/suicide#tab=tab_1. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11110333/
  7. Terri D. Conley et al., “The Fewer the Merrier?: Assessing Stigma Surrounding Consensually Non-Monogamous Romantic Relationships,” Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy 17, no. 1 (2017): 255–84. https://pure.psu.edu/en/publications/the-fewer-the-merrier-assessing-stigma-surrounding-consensually-n#:~:text=Abstract,favorably%20than%20the%20CNM%20relationship.
  8. Amy C. Moors, “Attached to Monogamy? Avoidance Predicts Willingness to Engage (but Not Actual Engagement) in Consensual Non-Monogamy,” Journal of Social and Personal Relationships 31, no. 2 (2014): 222–40. https://www.academia.edu/6625869/Attached_to_monogamy_Avoidance_predicts_willingness_to_engage_but_not_actual_engagement_in_consensual_non_monogamy
  9. Ed Diener and Micaela Y. Chan, eds., “Happy People Live Longer: Subjective Well-Being Contributes to Health and Longevity,” Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being 3, no. 1 (2011): 1–43. https://labs.psychology.illinois.edu/~ediener/Documents/Diener-Chan_2011.pdf
  10. Andrew Steptoe et al., “Subjective Wellbeing, Health, and Ageing,” The Lancet 385, no. 9968 (2015): 640–48. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25468152/
  11. Janice K. Kiecolt-Glaser and Tamara L. Newton, “Marriage and Health: His and Hers,” Psychological Bulletin 127, no. 4 (2001): 472–503. https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2001-01085-002
  12. Julianne Holt-Lunstad et al., “Social Relationships and Mortality Risk: A Meta-Analytic Review,” PLoS Medicine 7, no. 7 (2010): 1000316. https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1000316
  13. Shelley E. Taylor et al., “Health Psychology: What Is an Unhealthy Environment and How Does It Get under the Skin?,” Annual Review of Psychology 51, no. 1 (2000): 453–85. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10941275/
  14. Shanta R. Dube et al., “Cumulative childhood stress and autoimmune diseases in adults,” Psychosomatic Medicine 71, no. 2 (2009): 243–50. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19188532/
  15. Rosemary Basson, “Human Sex-Response Cycles,” Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy 27, no. 1 (2001): 33–43. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00926230152035831
  16. Lee T. Gettler et al., “Longitudinal Evidence That Fatherhood Decreases Testosterone in Human Males,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 108, no. 39 (2011): 16194–99. https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1105403108
  17. Brian Hollis and Tadeusz J. Kawecki, “Male Cognitive Performance Declines in the Absence of Sexual Selection,” Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 281, no. 1781 (2014): 20132873. https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2013.2873
  18. Marissa A. Rice et al., “Social Context Alters Spatial Memory Performance in Free-Living Male Prairie Voles,” Royal Society Open Science 6, no. 11 (2019): 190743. https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.190743
  19. Lucinda F. Jacobs et al., “Evolution of Spatial Cognition: Sex-Specific Patterns of Spatial Behavior Predict Hippocampal Size,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 87, no. 16 (1990): 6349–52. https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.87.16.6349
  20. “Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). “Use of Prescription Psychiatric Drugs in Adults: United States, 2015–2018,” NCHS Data Brief, no. 377 (2020), https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db377.htm.
  21. David M. Buss, Evolutionary Psychology: The New Science of the Mind, 6th ed. (Routledge, 2019), https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9780429061417/evolutionary-psychology-david-buss.
  22. Plesnar-Bielak et al., “Mating System Affects Population Performance and Extinction Risk under Environmental Challenge.”
  23. Lumley, “Sexual Selection Protects against Extinction.”
  24. Henrich et al., “The Puzzle of Monogamous Marriage.”

CONSEQUENCES: HOW MONOGAMY HARMS WOMEN AND DAUGHTERS

  1. Michael J. Rosenfeld, “Who Wants the Break-up? Gender and Breakup in Heterosexual Couples,” American Sociological Review 83, no. 4 (2017): 651–79. https://web. stanford.edu/~mrosenfe/Rosenfeld_gender_of_breakup.pdf
  2. Laumann et al., “Sexual Dysfunction in the United States: Prevalence and Predictors.”
  3. West et al., “Prevalence of Low Sexual Desire and Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder in Women in the United States: Prevalence and Predictors.”
  4. World Health Organization and Pan American Health Organization, “Understanding and Addressing Violence Against Women: Intimate Partner Violence,” WHO Reference Number (Geneva), no. O/RHR/12.36 (November 2012), https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/WHO-RHR-12.36.

 

CONSEQUENCES: HOW MONOGAMY DESTROYS MEN AND SONS

  1. William Shyr et al., “Ethnicity and Race Specific Total Testosterone Norms – Time for Change?,” Journal of Urology 209, suppl. 4 (April 2023), https://www.auajournals.org/doi/10.1097/JU.0000000000003217.19.
  2. Mousymi Biswas et al., “Reduced Total Testosterone Concentrations in Young Healthy South Asian Men Are Partly Explained by Increased Insulin Resistance but Not by Altered Adiposity,” Clinical Endocrinology 73, no. 4 (2010): 457–62, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2265.2010.03824.x.
  3. T.V. Rajan and colleagues, “Evidence for Low Androgenicity among Indian (South Asian) Men,” Asian Journal of Andrology 16, no. 6 (2014): 880–85, https://doi.org/10.3109/13685538.2013.832192.
  4. Peter Gray et al., “P Marriage and Fatherhood Are Associated with Lower Testosterone in Males,” Evol Hum Behav 23 (2002), https://www.academia.edu/676554/Marriage_and_fatherhood_are_associated_with_lower_testosterone_in_males.
  5. Alan Booth and James M. Dabbs Jr, “Testosterone and Men’s Marriages,” Social Forces 72, no. 2 (1993): 463–77. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2579857
  6. Allan Mazur and Joel Michalek, “Marriage, Divorce, and Male Testosterone,” Social Forces 77, no. 1 (1998): 315–30. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3006019
  7. Alvergne et al., “Variation in Testosterone Levels and Male Reproductive Effort: Insight from a Polygynous Human Population.”
  8. Matthew McIntyre et al., “Romantic Involvement Often Reduces Men’s Testosterone Levels—But Not Always: The Moderating Role of Extrapair Sexual Interest,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 91, no. 4 (2006): 642–51. https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037/0022-3514.91.4.642
  9. Anders et al., “Relationship Status and Testosterone in North American Heterosexual and Non-Heterosexual Men and Women: Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Data,” Psychoneuroendocrinology 31, no. 6 (2006): 715–23. https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/ bitstream/handle/2027.42/83924/Relationship_status_and_testosterone_in_North_American_heterosexual_and_non-heterosexual_men_and_women_corss-sectional_and_longitudinal_data.pdf;sequence=1
  10. Daniel Farrelly et al., “The Effects of Being in a ‘New Relationship’ on Levels of Testosterone in Men,” Evolutionary Psychology 13, no. 1 (2015): 250 261, https://doi.org/10.1177/147470491501300116.
  11. T.C. Burnham et al., “Men in Committed, Romantic Relationships Have Lower Testosterone,” Hormones and Behavior 44, no. 2 (2003): 119–22. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0018506X03001259?via%3Dihub
  12. Gettler et al., “Longitudinal Evidence That Fatherhood Decreases Testosterone in Human Males.”
  13. Paul G. Cohen, “Obesity in men: the hypogonadal-estrogen receptor relationship and its effect on glucose homeostasis,” Medical Hypotheses 70, no. 2 (2008): 358–60.https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17825496
  14. E. Maseroli et al., “Gynecomastia in Subjects with Sexual Dysfunction,” Journal of Endocrinological Investigation 37, no. 6 (2014): 525–32, https://doi.org/10.1007/s40618-014-0055-z.
  15. Robert M. Sapolsky, The Trouble With Testosterone: And Other Essays on the Biology of the Human Predicament (Scribner, 1997).
  16. Holland, Moody Bitches: The Truth About the Drugs You’re Taking, the Sleep You’re Missing, the Sex You’re Not Having, and What’s Really Making You Crazy.
  17. Bu B. Yeap et al., “Associations of Testosterone and Related Hormones With All Cause and Cardiovascular Mortality and Incident Cardiovascular Disease in Men: Individual Participant Data Meta Analyses,” Annals of Internal Medicine 177, no. 6 (2024): 749–61, https://doi.org/10.7326/M23-2781.
  18. K. Sloan et al., “Low Testosterone Levels Predict Incident Depressive Illness in Older Men: Effects of Age and Medical Morbidity,” Journal of Clinical Psychiatry 66, no. 1 (2005): 7–14, https://doi.org/10.4088/jcp.v66n0102.
  19. Maseroli et al., “Gynecomastia in Subjects with Sexual Dysfunction.”
  20. Gail A. Laughlin et al., “Low Serum Testosterone and Mortality in Older Men,” The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism 93, no. 1 (2008): 68–75, https://doi.org/10.1210/jc.2007-1792.
  1. Dewsbury, “Effects of Novelty on Copulatory Behavior: The Coolidge Effect and Related Phenomena.”
  2. H. Levine et al., “Temporal Trends in Sperm Count: A Systematic Review and Meta-Regression Analysis of Samples Collected Globally in the 20th and 21st Centuries,” Hum Reprod Update 1;29(2):157-176 (March 2023), https://doi.org/10.1093/humupd/dmac035.
  3. Hagai Levine et al., “Temporal Trends in Sperm Count: A Systematic Review and Meta Regression Analysis,” Human Reproduction Update 23, no. 6 (2017): 646–59, https://doi.org/10.1093/humupd/dmx022.
  4. Sloan et al., “Low Testosterone Levels Predict Incident Depressive Illness in Older Men: Effects of Age and Medical Morbidity.”
  5. F.A. Zarrouf et al., “Testosterone and Depression: Systematic Review and Meta-Anal-
    ysis,” Journal of Psychiatric Practice 15, no. 4 (2009): 289–305. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19625884/
    260 S.N. Seidman and J.G. Rabkin, “Testosterone Replacement Therapy for Hypogonadal Men with SSRI-Refractory Depression,” Journal of Affective Disorders 48, nos. 2–3 (1998): 157–61. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9543205/

 

THE FIRST STEP TOWARD HEALING

  1. Oprah Winfrey, “Oprah Winfrey Reveals She Uses Weight-Loss Medication: ‘Obesity Is a Disease,” in It’s Not About Willpower — It’s About the Brain.’” People (2023), https://people.com/oprah-winfrey-reveals-weight-loss-medication-exclusive-8414552.

CONSCIOUS TOOLS FOR AUTHENTIC INTIMACY

  1. Amy C. Moors, “Attached to Monogamy? Avoidance Predicts Willingness to Engage (but Not Actual Engagement) in Consensual Non-Monogamy,” Journal of Social and Personal Relationships 31, no. 2 (2014): 222–40. https://www.academia.edu/6625869/Attached_to_monogamy_Avoidance_predicts_willingness_to_engage_but_not_
    actual_engagement_in_consensual_non_monogamy
  2. Terri D. Conley et al., “The Fewer the Merrier?: Assessing Stigma Surrounding Consensually Non-Monogamous Romantic Relationships,” Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy 17, no. 1 (2017): 255–84. https://pure.psu.edu/en/publications/the-fewer-the-merrier-assessing-stigma-surrounding-con-sensually-n#:~:text=Abstract,favorably%20than%20the%20CNM%20relationship.

EXPLORING ENLIGHTENED MODELS OF INTIMACY

  1. Moors, “Attached to Monogamy? Avoidance Predicts Willingness to Engage (but Not Actual Engagement) in Consensual Non-Monogamy.” 265 Conley et al., “The Fewer the Merrier?: Assessing Stigma Surrounding Consensually Non-Monogamous Romantic Relationships.”

TOWARDS A NEW MODEL OF COMMUNITY

  1. Suzanne Blake, “Nearly Half of Gen Z Says Monogamy Is Out- dated – Study,” Newsweek, 2025, https://www.newsweek.com/nearly-half-gen-z-says-monogamy-outdated-study-2078097.

 

APPENDIX C

  1. Norman P. Li et al., “The Evolutionary Mismatch Hypothesis: Implications for Psy- chological Science,” Current Directions in Psychological Science 27, no. 1 (2018): 38–44, https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721417731378.
  2. Li et al., “The Evolutionary Mismatch Hypothesis: Implications for Psychological Science.”
  3. John Alcock, Animal Behavior: An Evolutionary Approach, 9th Ed., Animal Behavior:
    An Evolutionary Approach, 9th Ed. (Sinauer Associates, 2009), xvi, 606.
  4. Robert M. Sapolsky, Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers: The Acclaimed Guide to Stress,
    Stress-Related Diseases, and Coping, 3rd ed. (Henry Holt, 2004).
  5. David M. Buss, Evolutionary Psychology: The New Science of the Mind, 6th ed. (Routledge, 2019), https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9780429061417/evolutionary-psychology-david-buss.
  6. Hrdy, Mothers and Others: The Evolutionary Origins of Mutual Understanding.
  7. Edward O. Wilson, On Human Nature (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press,
    1978)