summary ofDollars and SexBook by Marina Adshade, PhD

first KEY POINT

Technology has changed the way we date and mate

In the form of effective contraceptives, technological advanceshave stunned the cost–benefit analysis of sex. Millions of women and men think daily about having noncommittal sex because we now have the power to do so with little to no consequences. In the past, people had a fear of unwanted pregnancies and STDs to consider before having sex. But not anymore.

Let’s talk about birth control technology. Since women can control their fertility, most have concluded that the benefits of premarital sex outweigh the costs. It is now safer to have sex with less risk of pregnancy. Ages ago, a woman knew that if she had an illegitimate child, her chances of marrying a man with a good income became very slim. But even with advances in contraceptive technology, the number of unwanted pregnancies keeps increasing. But this doesn’t mean sex tech is not important; it simply means that it spurred social change leading to a rise in promiscuity.Does promiscuity have any benefits? Sex makes people happy, so you would think people with more sexual partners would be happier. But that’s far from accurate. Research shows the more sexual partners you have, the less happy you will be. The economic approach to explaining human sexuality enables us to understand why we went through the liberalization of sexual values in the twentieth century and how the ever–widening gaps in incomes between the poor and the rich have led to increasing unintended pregnancies in impoverished communities. The remaining chapters of this summary are all about exploring these points.