Butovskaya Marina Lvovna - Doctor of Historical Sciences, anthropologist, head. Center for Evolutionary Anthropology of the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, prof. Center for Social Anthropology of the Russian State University for the Humanities. Area of scientific interests: ethology of humans and primates, human evolution, anthropology of gender, conflictology. The author of two hundred scientific publications, including five monographs and textbooks. The book introduces the reader to modern ideas about the evolution of human sexual desire. The main advantages of sexual reproduction are explained. An explanation is given for the phenomena of virgin conception (parthenogenesis), hermaphroditism and homosexuality, and the theory of sexual selection and its relevance for understanding strategies of sexual behavior are outlined in detail. The differences between male and female bodies that arose through sexual selection are considered. A special place in the book is occupied by ideas about male and female attractiveness and the ways of forming behavioral stereotypes in the process of individual development. The book is replete with interesting stories: about the specifics of male and female behavior in urban culture, about the role of sexual images in advertising. The publication is intended for anthropologists. psychologists, cultural experts, sociologists, advertising and marketing specialists, and a wide range of readers.