What Do Women Want?

March 11, 2013
Suspicious of evolution-based assumptions about female desire—such as the views that women prefer monogamy and that women find emotional connections key to physical satisfaction—Bergner (The Other Side of Desire) looks to past and current scientific and social research, as well as interviews with everyday women, to uncover the truth behind female sexuality. In accessible and informative prose, the author addresses topics as wide-ranging as scientific studies of female rats and monkeys, the implications of biological differences between the sexes (does the fact that women have a limited quantity of reproductive material—as opposed to men’s regenerative supply of sperm—offer insight into the discrepancies between the male and female libidos?), the role of narcissism in desire, the effects of orgasm on the brain, and what happens when women—not men—are the ones to switch seats during a speed-dating session. Bergner isn’t afraid to take on the most taboo of subjects (such as rape fantasies), but he does so through a critical lens that seeks to reveal the why behind the phenomenon under investigation. This page-turning book will have readers questioning some of their most ingrained beliefs about women, men, society, and sex. Agent: Suzanne Gluck, William Morris Endeavor.

May 1, 2013

Bergner picks up with the questions raised in his previous book The Other Side of Desire, in which a researcher asks provocative questions about female sexual desire. What if the popular belief that females are the more monogamous, relationship-oriented gender isn't true? What if females are wired to be less monogamous than males? Taking a position similar to Christopher Ryan's Sex at Dawn, Bergner unravels vignettes from the latest research. Along the way, readers are introduced to the sexual desires of monkeys and rats, the waning of such feelings in marriage, and even the gamble for pharmaceutical research companies to be first in finding a pill that awakens female sexual desire. VERDICT There is no question that readers unfamiliar with female desire will find this book engaging, even startling, as a different image of female sexuality emerges. Nonetheless, Bergner's pop-science journalism glosses over the subject's complexity, omitting evidence of evolutionary psychology and discussion with credible critics. Recommended to readers interested in human sexuality.--Scott Vieira, Sam Houston State Univ. Lib., Huntsville, TX

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