Hormonal: How Hormones Drive Desire, Shape Relationships, and Make Us Wiser

Description

Did you know that at certain times of the month, women are inclined to dance more? Flirt more? Or that PMS may have evolved to remove boyfriends with unfit sperm? Why? Hormones. Hormones help women choose mates, produce healthy offspring, raise them successfully, and, ultimately, make better decisions. In this paradigm-shifting book, Martie Haselton explains how hormonal intelligence works - both its strengths and its weaknesses - and how women can track and understand their desires, fears and perceptions. By exploring the biological processes that profoundly influence our behaviour, Hormonal sets forth a radical, new understanding of women's bodies, one that sees hormonal cycles as adaptive solutions to genuine biological challenges. This book will empower women everywhere to embrace their biology.

Martie Haselton, PhD, is the world's leading researcher on how ovulatory cycles influence women's sexuality. She is a professor at UCLA and the Institute for Society and Genetics, a Fellow of the Society for Experimental Social Psychology, andco-editor of Evolution and the Social Mind.

'Such common sense is, sadly, remarkable.' * Evening Standard * 'Haselton is part of a new conversation that is emerging; she is a pioneering researcher pushing the politics of hormones in a new direction.' * Observer * 'In her book she shows that there are no simple answers, but lots of fascinating possibilities, when we start to think about the biological aspects of our sexual lives.' * The Sunday Times * 'What a refreshing book. Finally, a feminist with the courage to discuss women not as victims of their hormones but as elegantly built captains of their minds and lives.' * Helen Fisher, author of The First Sex and Why Him? Why Her? * 'A very detailed and fascinating book which explores hormones to different level. Many women (and men) should read this to understand how women's hormones can have both negative and positive effects on our lives.' * Dr Louise Newson, the Menopause Doctor * 'Anchored in deep science, Haselton takes the reader on a mesmerizing tour from the stirrings of puberty to the aftermath of menopause, from sexual fantasies to the ways in which women often call the shots in the game of mating.' * David M. Buss, author of The Evolution of Desire * 'Haselton shows there are no simple answers - but lots of fascinating possibilities - when we start to think about the biological aspects of our sexual lives.' * Alice Dreger, author of Galileo's Middle Finger * 'In Hormonal, Martie Haselton gives us a brave and fascinating tour of what we know we know about sex differences, but are often afraid to discuss. Read it, whether or not you have a uterus.' * am Harris, author of five New York Times bestsellers and host of the Waking Up podcast * 'This book is essential reading for both women and men...Hormonal is engaging, clever, very funny at times, and always scientifically impeccable.' * Barbara Natterson-Horowitz, author of New York Times bestseller Zoobiquity * 'Your hormones have a lot to answer for, and you'll struggle to find someone to give you a better schooling than UCLA professor Martie Haselton.' * Women's Health * 'Deep, thoughtful, and eye-opening, this book teaches us that the more we know about hormones, the more we can manage our lives.' * Maria Shriver, author of I've Been Thinking... * 'A smart and engaging scientific story about the amazing molecules that drive our behaviour.' * Daniel Gilbert, author of Stumbling on Happiness * 'Written with passion and wit, Hormonal provides important insights about the female experience.' * Joan Silk, professor, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, and co-author of How Humans Evolved *