In this sure-to-be-controversial book, Randy Thornhill and Craig Palmer use evolutionary biology to explain the causes of rape and to recommend new approaches to its prevention. According to Thornhill and Palmer, evolved adaptation of some sort gives rise to rape; the main evolutionary question is whether rape is an adaptation itself or a by-product of other adaptations. Regardless of the answer, Thornhill and Palmer note, rape circumvents a central feature of women's reproductive strategy: mate choice. This is a primary reason why rape is devastating to its victims, especially young women. Thornhill and Palmer address, and claim to demolish scientifically, many myths about rape bred by social science theory over the past twenty-five years. The popular contention that rapists are not motivated by sexual desire is, they argue, scientifically inaccurate.

Although they argue that rape is biological, Thornhill and Palmer do not view it as inevitable. Their recommendations for rape prevention include teaching young males not to rape, punishing rape more severely, and studying the effectiveness of "chemical castration." They also recommend that young women consider the biological causes of rape when making decisions about dress, appearance, and social activities. Rape could cease to exist, they argue, only in a society knowledgeable about its evolutionary causes.

The book includes a useful summary of evolutionary theory and a comparison of evolutionary biology's and social science's explanations of human behavior. The authors argue for the greater explanatory power and practical usefulness of evolutionary biology. The book is sure to stir up discussion both on the specific topic of rape and on the larger issues of how we understand and influence human behavior.

Review

In the past three decades the notion that rape is a crime of misogynistic violence rather than of misguided lust has gone from being a cutting-edge feminist theory to being an accepted criminological fact. So widespread and pervasive is this view of rape, accepted by politicians, judges and educators alike, to challenge it is to risk academic ostracism.

Now two American biologists, Randy Thornhill and Craig Palmer, have risked precisely that. Their carefully weighed thesis is that rape is not the culturally learned behaviour of conditioned woman-haters, rather it is a Darwinian adaptation, an instinctive behaviourism typical of males (of many species) seeking to mate and propagate with otherwise unavailable fertile young females. In other words, rape IS sexual.

Predictably, this theory has caused outrage. Feminist lawyers says it gives rapists a "genetic excuse"; feminist academics say it ignores male-on-male rape, and rape of non-fertile females. In response to such expected critiques Thornhill and Palmer have adduced a persuasive mass of evidence from fields as diverse as zoology, psychology and haute couture. And the facts are truly curious. Did you know that women dress more skimpily during ovulation?

This is not a flawless text. It is too reductive. The writing is thick with scientific jargon: you should know the meanings of 'morphological' and 'phenotype' before you start. And sometimes the book becomes a bit of a rant against the "closed minds" of its politically correct opponents. But maybe that is to quibble too much: this is still an exhilarating and exciting book; it is also a very courageous attempt to throw some scientific light on a treacherously murky subject. --Sean Thomas

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