True Nature

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xvii

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2. Obfuscation and Clarification: An Introduction

   • Michael R. Kauth

   Pages 1-30

3. Libido and Learning: Psychosocial Models

   • Michael R. Kauth

   Pages 31-66

4. Culture’s Child: A Social Constructionist Model

   • Michael R. Kauth

   Pages 67-109

5. Parts and Pieces: Evolutionary and Biological Models

   • Michael R. Kauth

   Pages 111-167

6. A Synthesis: The Development and Function of Sexual Attractions

   • Michael R. Kauth

   Pages 169-211

7. Present and Future Questions

   • Michael R. Kauth

   Pages 213-223

8. Back Matter

   Pages 225-250

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I have long been awe-struck by authors' claims that their books had been in the making for 5, or 10, or even 15 years. I now have a better appreciation ofthe work involved in bringing a book to press. The seeds of this project have had a long germination. The impetus for this book began more than 10 years ago when I was a graduate student in clinical psychology. Having an interest in human sexuality-and in theories on the forms of sexual attraction specifically-I was perplexed by various perspectives on this subject. Disciplines of thought that I encountered­ medicine, evolutionary biology, developmental psychology, gay/lesbian theory, social constructionism, anthropology, Marxism, Christianity, and others-perceived the issue so differently, so strongly, with almost no overlap. I was fascinated that the question ofhow and why one is attracted to either one or both sexes could elicit such conviction and divergent points of view. There seemed to be no easy way to resolve these differences. Still, what frustrated me most in my readings were several conceptual problems among the two prominent proponents of contemporary sexuality theory­ scientists and social constructionists. One ofmy first frustrations with biomedical and social scientists who write about sexuality was that they often define sexual attraction in strict behavioral terms, as completed observable sexual acts--observable in the sense that such acts or their consequences are seen by others.

• Evolution
• Gender
• Gender Studies
• behavior
• biology
• development
• evolutionary biology
• genetics
• interaction
• nature
• psychology
• sociology
• sexual behaviour

`This is a remarkably good book.'
READINGS, March 2001

• Mental Health Service, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, USA

  Michael R. Kauth

• Department of Psychiatry, Louisiana State University School of Medicine, New Orleans, USA

  Michael R. Kauth

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