A Natural History of Rape: Biological Bases of Sexual Coercion by Randy Thornhill and Craig T. Palmer

Rape is horrific for women. The mere thought of rape arouses anxiety, revulsion, and anger, so it is not surprising that women are very ambivalent about subjecting rape to scientific scrutiny. Research on deadly or grotesquely disfiguring diseases probably arouses less distaste and ambivalence. Ambivalence arises out of the mix of anxiety, revulsion, and a desire to have more information.

The authors of A Natural History of Rape are familiar with various expressions of such ambivalence, and they understand why women are so anxious. As scientists, they value knowledge and assume that trying to understand everything about why rape occurs is far more beneficial for women in the long term even if the scientific inquiry inspires anxiety and revulsion. The evolution-minded scientific approach that the authors