Cases of sexual violence against men have been documented in a great number of conflicts and wars, both ancient and contemporary. Despite this growing empirical evidence, there is still a dearth of analyses on this type of violence, which stands in stark contrast with the abundant literature dealing with sexual violence against women.
Based on a fieldwork conducted primarily in the Great Lakes Region of Africa, this book proposes to look at wartime sexual violence against men as a performative gendered act that, stemming from the same logic underpinning sexual violence against women, (re-)affirms a gendered social hierarchy.
The book explores patterns of wartime sexual violence against men, and presents survivors’, but also perpetrators’ stories. The book proceeds to analysing the context in which this type of violence can be understood, narrated, but also addressed, either through support programs for survivors, or through legal means.
“Why is Sex Fun? is the best book on the subject I've read. This lively exploration of our sexual heritage offers fascinating reading for anyone curious about why lovers do what they do.”
— Diane Ackerman, author of A Natural History of the Senses
“I am so jealous of Jared Diamond, for he writes with such an elegant simplicity! Here, he takes a loot at the endlessly fascinating topic of human sexuality His convincing arguments should persuade xm that there are very special reasons why we evolved to use sex for recreation as well as for procreatim whereas most other mammals are denied that pleasure…. It is a great little book, by one of the worlds foremost biological philosophers.”
— Roger Shohl, Professor of Physiology Monash University Australia
“Once again Jared Diamond provides us with answers to questions we may never have stopped to ask, but wish we had. In this long essay Diamond explains that recreational sex, while not unique to humans, is a rare behavior in the animal world. Above all, we learn, sexual activity divorced fron procreation is not only part of what it is to be human, but the very crux of our evolutionary success.”
— Bettyaxn Kevles, author of Naked to the Bonn Medical Imaging in the Twentieth Century