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Sexual Strategies: How Females Choose Their Mates
An exploration of male-female mating behavior in the animal kingdom argues that by understanding how female animals choose their mates humans can gain insight into their own behavior and change their self-destructive ways
272 pages, Paperback
First published October 23, 1992
4 people are currently reading
68 people want to read
About the author
Mary Batten
38 books7 followersMary Batten is an award-winning writer for television, film and publishing. Her many writing projects have taken her into tropical rainforests, astronomical observatories, scientific laboratories, and medical research centers.
She is the author of many books for children. The most recent are Life in Hot Water: Wildlife at the Bottom of the Ocean (Peachtree 2021), NSTA Outstanding Science Trade Book for Students K-12; Life in A Frozen World: Wildlife of Antarctica (Peachtree 2020) and Spit: What's Cool About Drool (Firefly 2019). Other books include: Baby Orca (Penguin Random House 2016); Rattler (Penguin Random House 2016); Please Don't Wake the Animals: A Book about Sleep (Peachtree 2008); Who Has A Belly Button (Peachtree 2004); Aliens from Earth ((Peachtree 2003) – 2006 Isaak Walton Conservation Book of the Year Award; Selected by New York City Public Schools in support of 4th grade science requirement for the study of ecosystems (Revised & updated edition Peachtree 2016); Hey, Daddy! Animal Fathers and Their Babies – Named Outstanding Science Read Aloud 2003 by the National Association for the Advancement of Science (Peachtree 2002); Wild Cats (Penguin Random House 2002); Anthropologist: Scientist of the People -- Named Outstanding Science Trade Book for Children by the National Science Teachers Association and the Children's Book Council (Houghton Mifflin 2001); Hungry Plants (Penguin Random House 2000); The Winking, Blinking Sea -- Named one of the Best Children's Books for 2001 (Millbrook Press, 2000); Extinct! Creatures of the Past (Golden Books, 2000); Baby Wolf (Grosset and Dunlap, 1998); Sexual Strategies: How Females Choose Their Mates, (Tarcher/Putnam, 1994; reprinted with new introduction by iUniverse 2008); Nature's Tricksters (Sierra Club Books/Little Brown, 1992), Discovery By Chance (Funk and Wagnalls) and The Tropical Forest: Ants, Ants, Animals and Plants (T.Y. Crowell). She has appeared on OPRAH. TOM SNYDER and various other television shows and done many radio interviews.
Her magazine articles are published in a variety of publications, including the online journal Pie & Chai, and print ppublications Cosmopolitan, Ladies Home Journal, Modern Maturity, Shape, International Wildlife, National Geographic World, ZooNooz, Science Digest, Calypso Log, and Dolphin Log.
Mary Batten was nominated for an Emmy for her work on the Children's Television Workshop's science series 3-2-1-CONTACT, and she has written some 50 nature documentaries for television series, including the syndicated WILD WILD WORLD OF ANIMALS (Time-Life Films) and others for National Geographic and Disney Educational Films.
Her magazine article for Science Digest, "Sexual Choice: The Female's Newly Discovered Role," won The Newswomen's Club of New York's Front Page Award for best feature story.
She was editor of The Cousteau Society's award-winning membership magazine, Calypso Log, for six years.
She was married to the late composer Ed Bland. They have two children.
She is the author of many books for children. The most recent are Life in Hot Water: Wildlife at the Bottom of the Ocean (Peachtree 2021), NSTA Outstanding Science Trade Book for Students K-12; Life in A Frozen World: Wildlife of Antarctica (Peachtree 2020) and Spit: What's Cool About Drool (Firefly 2019). Other books include: Baby Orca (Penguin Random House 2016); Rattler (Penguin Random House 2016); Please Don't Wake the Animals: A Book about Sleep (Peachtree 2008); Who Has A Belly Button (Peachtree 2004); Aliens from Earth ((Peachtree 2003) – 2006 Isaak Walton Conservation Book of the Year Award; Selected by New York City Public Schools in support of 4th grade science requirement for the study of ecosystems (Revised & updated edition Peachtree 2016); Hey, Daddy! Animal Fathers and Their Babies – Named Outstanding Science Read Aloud 2003 by the National Association for the Advancement of Science (Peachtree 2002); Wild Cats (Penguin Random House 2002); Anthropologist: Scientist of the People -- Named Outstanding Science Trade Book for Children by the National Science Teachers Association and the Children's Book Council (Houghton Mifflin 2001); Hungry Plants (Penguin Random House 2000); The Winking, Blinking Sea -- Named one of the Best Children's Books for 2001 (Millbrook Press, 2000); Extinct! Creatures of the Past (Golden Books, 2000); Baby Wolf (Grosset and Dunlap, 1998); Sexual Strategies: How Females Choose Their Mates, (Tarcher/Putnam, 1994; reprinted with new introduction by iUniverse 2008); Nature's Tricksters (Sierra Club Books/Little Brown, 1992), Discovery By Chance (Funk and Wagnalls) and The Tropical Forest: Ants, Ants, Animals and Plants (T.Y. Crowell). She has appeared on OPRAH. TOM SNYDER and various other television shows and done many radio interviews.
Her magazine articles are published in a variety of publications, including the online journal Pie & Chai, and print ppublications Cosmopolitan, Ladies Home Journal, Modern Maturity, Shape, International Wildlife, National Geographic World, ZooNooz, Science Digest, Calypso Log, and Dolphin Log.
Mary Batten was nominated for an Emmy for her work on the Children's Television Workshop's science series 3-2-1-CONTACT, and she has written some 50 nature documentaries for television series, including the syndicated WILD WILD WORLD OF ANIMALS (Time-Life Films) and others for National Geographic and Disney Educational Films.
Her magazine article for Science Digest, "Sexual Choice: The Female's Newly Discovered Role," won The Newswomen's Club of New York's Front Page Award for best feature story.
She was editor of The Cousteau Society's award-winning membership magazine, Calypso Log, for six years.
She was married to the late composer Ed Bland. They have two children.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 5, 2007
Aku baca edisi Indonesia-nya. Menarik. Mengubah konsep selama ini tentang relasi gender. Kalau sebelumnya melulu bicara tentang hubungan-hubungan sosial, buku ini membedahnya sampai jauh ke dalam anak tangga evolusi. Membedah relasi di dunia binatang, dari serangga hingga mamalia dan primata. Jika kebanyakan kita, bahkan yang mempercayai teori evolusi, menganggap spesies manusia sebagai primata modern dengan kebudayaannya, anggapan itu barangkali keliru. Karena ternyata tahapan "manusia berbudaya" itu tak lebih dari satu persen dari keseluruhan umur spesies manusia. Maka alih-alih membayangkan manusia urban yang mendorong troli di mal, barangkali lebih tepat memahami manusia dengan warisan naluri "manusia pemburu dan peramu" yang belum sepenuhnya hilang dari evolusi kebudayaan. Dari sini, asumsi yang berlaku di spesies di bawah tangga evolusi seharusnya juga berlaku pula untuk manusia. Buku ini khusus menggambarkan relasi gender dalam perspektif biologi evolusioer.
April 27, 2020
Mary Batten has done more to educate the masses than most scientist will ever do. Sexual strategies is one of the best pieces of scientific writing one can encounter before the book Sapiens. It is beautifully researched and concise introduction to animal and insect mating systems and the clearest available account on the biology of how female choice has controlled the equation of men and women in todays world.
April 13, 2019
An extraordinary book on human ethology as applied to comparative sexuality.
Through vivid and well written accounts of many sexual strategies used by mammals, reptiles, fish, birds and insects; the author teaches us a humbling lesson.
It is quite difficult to get this book. Since Mary Batten has begun to sell her books on the Amazon Store, I wish this title were available in digital form.
Through vivid and well written accounts of many sexual strategies used by mammals, reptiles, fish, birds and insects; the author teaches us a humbling lesson.
It is quite difficult to get this book. Since Mary Batten has begun to sell her books on the Amazon Store, I wish this title were available in digital form.
May 31, 2012
This book was given to me as a gift a few years ago and I actually lent it out before I ever read it myself.
That being said, while it is non-fiction, I felt that it was poorly researched and that the author's agenda came through too glaringly when it came to her evaluation of human female mate selection.
It was an easy read - definitely written for the casual science or feminist literature reader rather than for someone looking for an in-depth science read. That being said, the non-human mate selection information was presented in an erudite and captivating manner.
That being said, while it is non-fiction, I felt that it was poorly researched and that the author's agenda came through too glaringly when it came to her evaluation of human female mate selection.
It was an easy read - definitely written for the casual science or feminist literature reader rather than for someone looking for an in-depth science read. That being said, the non-human mate selection information was presented in an erudite and captivating manner.
August 27, 2007
This book is really interesting when it covers the insect/animal world. It was really a great read and I learned a lot of interesting stuff. But it really fell apart when the author attempts to apply the same principles to human dating and courtship. Four stars and highly recommended for the ealier sections.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews