The co-author of the controversial “Sex at Dawn”, Christopher Ryan explores the prehistoric roots of human sexuality.
His personal “mission” is to challenge our view of “sexual monogamy.” His full bio can be read here.
An idea permeates our modern view of relationships: “that men and women have always paired off in sexually exclusive relationships.”
But before the “dawn” of agriculture, humans may actually have been quite “promiscuous.”
Christopher Ryan walks us through the “controversial evidence” that human beings are “sexual omnivores by nature,” in hopes that a more “nuanced” understanding may put an end to “discrimination, shame and the kind of unrealistic expectations” that kill relationships.
For the most part, our society and family structures are held up by the “main belief” that humans are destined to pair off in “sexually exclusive” partnerships.
One nice lady finds one fetching man, they “bone,” and then they live “happily” ever after while “raising” their off springs.
In the TED talk below, Ryan guides us through how our “prehistoric” origins have impacted “modern” sexuality.
He rejects the standard “narrative” of our sexual evolution that historically men have “leased out food and shelter in exchange for women’s sexual fidelity.”
In a world where about 40 percent of women are now the primary “breadwinners” in their homes, that “outdated” model no longer applies to our “contemporary” sex lives.
Ryan believes that “sexuality” has always primarily been a “bonding” experience and only a means of “procreation” secondarily.
Believing otherwise has lead us to a “huge amount of unnecessary suffering.”
He hopes this new “evidence” can help lead to a greater understanding of “alternative” sexual practices, like “homosexuality, polyamory, promiscuity, and bisexuality,” that we’ve been thrusting “shame upon” for centuries.
“We all have closets we need to come out of,” Ryan concludes.
And besides “revelatory” views of human sexuality, the video also introduces us to my new favorite piece of “cocktail” trivia:
“Those loud fake orgasm sounds Meg Ryan made in “When Harry Met Sally” are scientifically classified as female copulatory vocalizations.“
Authors and Husband/Wife Christopher Ryan PhD and Cacilda Jetha, M.D.
