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Thicker Than Water: The Origins of Blood as Symbol and Ritual. Melissa L. Meyer. New York: Routledge, 2005. 264 pp.

Introduction -- Three images of primitive sexuality and the definition of species -- Sex and the refuge for destitute truth -- Matriarchy, marriage by capture, and other fantasies -- The reconstruction of "primitive sexuality" at the fin de siècle -- "Old africa hands" -- Malinowski as "reluctant sexologist" -- Margaret Mead, the future of language, and lost opportunities -- The "silence" -- Sex in contemporary anthropology -- Conclusions and unfinished business.

Draws on data from a 1976-1984 field study on the anthropology of mass communications in Benin City, Nigeria, to analyze the 1984 documentary, "A Squandering of Riches," which offered a scathing analysis of political & military crisis through the eyes of popular singer Onyeka Onwenu. However, content analysis of Nigerian newspapers following the documentary's broadcast revealed criticisms of this personal style of journalism, focusing on issues of tribalism & encroaching individualism, both antithetical to national unity. Onwenu was chastised for transgressing accepted rules of discourse, eg, airing "dirty laundry" in public & promoting an individualism associated with Western hegemony & cultural imperialism. Further analysis of leading newspapers & magazines revealed a marked absence of personal or biographical stories about public figures in general. This is attributed to the economic, social, religious, & political factors governing the production of print media in Nigeria. K. Hyatt Stewart

"Shedding important new light on a subject as old as humanity itself, Sexualities in Anthropology: A Reader presents a comprehensive collection of historical and current readings in the social anthropology of sexuality. Succinct and revealing excerpts from key figures in the history of anthropology about sexualities, morality, and the family are featured. The most recent literature on both heterosexualities and same-sex sexualities is also included, as well as material on past and present controversies, including Derek Freeman's famous attack on Margaret Mead's writings on sexual freedom in Samoa; the notion of "primitive" promiscuity in the 19th and early 20th centuries; concerns for the practice of clitoridectomy and other forms of "genital cutting;" the discussion of homosexualities in different cultures; and the meaning of love. Thought-provoking and always fascinating, Sexualities in Anthropology: A Reader offers keen insights into the diversity of human social beliefs, practices, and interactions relating to human sexual behavior around the world"--