As before, we start from the point of view that evolution is both true and obvious (after years of study). On what factors do men and women differ?
- Risk -- discussed previously.
- Violence -- in particular, violence over mate selection. The prime evolutionary directive is to procreate. The male and female procreational strategies are simply different. Male-on-male violence, competing for females is part of the mammalian heritage. The M:F mass ratio of 1.3x is an awfully good indicator among species that men are built to fight with one another for women...and that we're not naturally psychologically monogamous.
- Autonomy -- Pre-agricultural, no-food-storage societies have a very standard arrangement: There are no leaders among men. All men participate, all men vote/agree on directions...anyone who takes to giving orders dies "accidentally". On the other hand, family units: M/F/Kids are awfully hierarchical. For almost all historical societies we've seen...men can and do initiate violence inside the family...and it is considered both normal and acceptable. Very standard hominid behavior as well.
- Competition -- In the female evolutionary environment...being the best gatherer was worth, perhaps, 0.2 additional children. On the other hand...if all females were better gatherers, it was worth 0.2 additional children for all of them. Maybe, being more attractive as a mate (prettiest mostly) was also worth 0.2 additional children. Competitiveness was historically low key, and largely on beauty. A male, in the ESS, had a potential upside of 2 or more additional children by being the comparative best. And it's all comparative when it comes to mate selection.
- Team competition -- see competition, but it's a very different animal.
Our current society makes lots of noise about shunning:
- violence
- real risk (of failure)
- competition
- real autonomy
Conclusions?
2 comments:
I think this is called domestication. Male aggression and fighting for mates is very costly (WW1?). I've taken the energy I would normally use for fighting and used it to build a John Deere tractor for farmer Tony. Now I sit at home while Amazon prime delivers food to my door.
So what does this imply about this historical Progressive belief that the innate can be overcome by proper application of social conditioning?
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