What is the carbon footprint of your libido? In this highly original book, Dominic Pettman examines the mutual influence and impact of human desire and ecological crisis. His account is premised on a simple but startling observation: the decline of libido among the world’s population, the loss of the human sex drive, closely tracks the destruction of environments worldwide. The advent of the Anthropocene leads to the decline of eros, the weakening of the link between sexual pleasure and human reproduction, and thus, potentially, to human extinction. Our capacity to care for one another in any meaningful way is being replaced by a restless, technologically-enhanced zombie drive. The environmental crisis of our time is also, and simultaneously, a crisis of human reproduction and of interpersonal intimacy. What Freud called ‘libidinal economy’ has morphed into libidinal ecology. Drawing on the work of a wide range of thinkers from Georges Bataille to Donna Haraway, Pettman explores the implications of peak libido, linking this development to the new cultural interest in eco-sexuality, polyamory, and other cases of the ‘greening of the libido’. Peak Libido is a forceful reminder that our hearts and loins are primarily ecological organs, beholden to their wider environments, and, as such, they share the same fate.

The groundbreaking Kinsey Report study on female sexuality from “one of the most influential figures in American intellectual history” (The New York Times). Originally published in 1953, the material presented in Sexual Behavior in the Human Female was derived from personal interviews with nearly 6,000 women; from studies in sexual anatomy, physiology, psychology, and endocrinology. The study revealed the incidence and frequency with which women participate in various types of sexual activity and how such factors as age, decade of birth, and religious adherence are reflected in patterns of sexual behavior. The authors make comparisons of female and male sexual activities and investigate the factors which account for the similarities and differences between female and male patterns of behavior and provide some measure of the social significance of the various types of sexual behavior. “[It] shocked the world in 1953 with its explicit revelations. Countries banned it. Churches berated it. Some scholars scoffed . . . but it was an instant success, selling 270,000 copies in less than a month . . . [Kinsey] made headlines around the globe with his findings on such things as masturbation, sex before marriage and adultery.”—CBSNews.com

Why is it so hard to talk about sex and sexuality? In this crisp and compelling book, Amin Ghaziani provides a pithy introduction to the field of sexuality studies through a distinctively cultural lens. Rather than focusing on sex acts, which make us feel flustered and blind us to a bigger picture, Ghaziani crafts a conversation about sex cultures that zooms in on the diverse contexts that give meaning to our sexual pursuits and practices. Unlike sex, which is a biological expression, the word 'sexuality' highlights how the materiality of the body acquires cultural meaning as it encounters other bodies, institutions, regulations, symbols, societal norms, values, and worldviews. Think of it this way: sex + culture = sexuality. Sex Cultures offers an introduction to sexuality unlike any other. Its case-study and debate-driven approach, animated by examples from across the globe and across disciplines, upends stubborn assumptions that pit sex against society. The elegance of the arguments makes this book a pleasurable read for beginners and experts alike.

Lust is a powerful feeling that often influences our lives and relationships. Pamela C. Regan and Ellen Berscheid have written an accessible, interdisciplinary book that reviews theory and research on the characteristics of sexual desire, the individual physical and mental factors of the sexual desire, the various partner characteristics that incite sexual desire, and the association between sexual desire and interpersonal, relational events and experiences. The book concludes with an examination of the personal, interpersonal, and societal implications of sexual desire. Throughout, the authors draw on findings from their own body of research on sexual desire and romantic attraction, as well as on an extensive review of the relevant social, behavioral, and medical science literatures.

Researchers have spent the last decade trying to develop a 'pink pill' for women to function like Viagra does for men. So where is it? Well, for reasons this book makes crystal clear, that pill will never exist - but as a result of the research that's gone into it, scientists in the last few years have learned more about how women's sexuality works than we ever thought possible, and this book explains it all.

A challenge to assumptions about sex in our society confronts the unrealistic expectations that leave many couples disappointed in their love lives, and explores a new view of sex in relationships that allows intimates to stop berating themselves over what they do not have. Original. 30,000 first printing.

When it comes to women's priorities, is sex on top? Lack of libido is women's most common sexual problem and once in a secure relationship, women's sex drive begins to plummet. Exploring what our libido is and why it is being depleted, sexual anthropologist Dr Bella Ellwood-Clayton argues that women don't want sex because they don't feel sexy. At a time when women's libidos are being threatened by the wider forces of media, marketing and medication and our increasingly pressured lives, who can blame them? With increasing numbers of women with low libido being diagnosed as 'sexually dysfunctional', the race to create a 'pink Viagra' is on. But do we have unrealistic expectations about our sex drive? Who defines what is normal and abnormal? And could 'low libido' in fact be the natural order of things? Provocative, authoritative and engaging, Sex Drive: In pursuit of female desire is both fascinating reading and a book that is creating passionate debate.