Carlos
Montano
Aracely Miron
Viet
Mai
Stephene Porras
Gender
Differences Report
Chapter
6
Chapter 6 starts with a story of how
the Sun King Atahualpa
had many young, beautiful women that were his concubines and how he chose them
at a really young age to ensure their virginity. The other men who were not
noble were basically forced in to celibacy because Atahualpa had most of the women or married them to him noblemen. Also it went to say that if a man were to
violate anyone of his women it would led to total destruction of the man who
committed the act, his entire family and even his village.
Next the chapter goes to tell about
the arguments that evolution brings forth. Those arguments are centered around
Evolution being more about reproduction on the fittest rather then survival of
the fittest. Stemming from that point of view there are two other arguments
that are raised that include behavior being learned and NOT inherited, and the
second being a contradiction about inherited behavior being inflexible but that
human are clearly flexible. Basically the first argument is an exaggeration and
the second is just plain false.
It then goes into another section
that talks about the point of marriage and basically how our mating system is
foolish. He describes our system being foolish because the name “monogamy” is
only there because the democracy prescribes it, which means that if we were to
relax the anti-polygamy law it would flourish. He gives examples about how
powerful men have usually had more then one mate even though they only had one
wife, and that our system is clearly plagued my adultery. Therefore calling our
mating system a monogamous one is a joke because it is not at all.
Furthermore males are the dominant
sex by far and are the seducers in our mating system. The reason for this is
because they can mate with more females without the commitment and don’t have
much to gain from these relationships. Females however have to carry the
offspring and take care of them for a long period of time, where as the male
does not need to stick around. Women are the more choosey sex and therefore
select their mate with quality and the males sex is more worried about the
number of females he impregnates.
A turn on this view is the
introduction of phalaropes, where in this species the roles are reversed. The
male here is seduced by the female and takes care of the offspring while the
female go around looking for another mate. The females here also take the
initiative or courting the males. He then relates this example to the essence
of the Red Queens message which is that one or the other will be condemned to
an unnatural fate. The way I think he is relating these tow ideas is that the
male lives a life that is unnatural compared to the rest of the males in the
world. They are the caregivers here and the ones who are dominated my the females which is “unnatural” to the male sex. So what
is good for the females here, may not be all that
great for the males.
Homosexuality is another issue
covered that really caught my attention by the way he touched on their
promiscuity. His main idea here is that homosexual men are behaving like men,
only more so, and that homosexual women are acting like women, only more so. So
basically he is saying that straight men would do exactly what homosexual men
did if women would be interested in the acts that gay men performed.
There is large debate as to why
different animals have different mating systems. In other words, why do some
animals “choose” polygamy instead of monogamy, or vice versa? Many theories
have been put forth to answer this question. One factor that may influence
animal mating systems is the game theory or dependence on the actions of
others. In the polygyny threshold model, if the advantages of a bigamist with good territory or genes exceeds
that of a monogamist with his faithfulness and parental care, polygamy will
result. Polygyny, however, can actually benefit
females more than males. Because some males will have an abundance of wives,
the majority of other men must be celibate. Women, on the other hand, who wish
to pursue careers will find other women to help in the
responsibilities. The mating system theory gives answers as to why polygamy or
monogamy is chosen. First, if choosing faithful males is better, there will be
monogamy. Secondly, if mated males can coerce the women to have them, polygamy
will happen. Third, if women can’t do worse in choosing an already mated male,
there will be polygamy. Finally, if the already-mated females can prevent other
females from latching on to her mate, monogamy will happen. A second factor
that may influence mating systems is ecology or socioecology.
Antelopes, for example, have very different mating systems according the
habitat in which they live. Small forest antelopes are monogamous, whereas open
woodland and big plain antelopes are polygamous. The same holds true for
chimpanzees. The problem with this theory is that some species share the same
ecology but have different mating systems. The black grouse and the red grouse
are examples. The answer lies in their ancestry or history. Black grouse are
descended from forest dwellers, while red grouse are not.
Human mating systems can also be
explained through history. As man moved into grasslands and woodland savannas,
a generally unchanging environment, they hunted animals, gathered fruits and
seeds, were social in tribes, and were hostile to others. Characteristics of
these early people are still evident in today’s societies. This contributes to
the ideas of the environment of evolutionary adaptedness
or EEA. Others believe that people are constantly adaptive and therefore have
man potential mating systems. When men were hunters they were monogamous
because hunting is more luck than skill. Even the best hunters could come back
empty handed. The food could spoil easily, so if he had extra, sharing could
only be beneficial. There was not yet the concept of wealth. When man
discovered agriculture, however, the wealth and power structure was born.
Farming leads to hoarding and therefore, men that had accumulated a lot of food
were also the most rich and powerful. As some men became more powerful, one man
could support several women and be polygamous.
Power seeking is an important
characteristic of social animals. Power tends to lead to reproductive success.
It also can be multiplied using alliances. Alliances can happen between
brothers, ensuring gene success, or through reciprocity in which one animal
helps another in order to be helped later in return. The evolution of power has
gone from brute strength, to a combination of strength and cunning, and finally
to man in which cunning alone can be a step into power. Humans are different
than most animals, however, because great power in society does not always lead
to reproductive success.
Anthropologist Mildred Dickemann
from
John Hartung of
In the mid 1980’s Laura Betzig
researched six different civilizations that were known to have very polygamous
leaders. These six early societies included
During the time of Medieval Christendom, polygamy
still went on, but it was very secretive. Many women had jobs in monasteries
and castles that their tasks included sleeping with the men of these places.
Many noblemen had women to copulate with because they had power, but most
peasant men did not marry before they were forty and they rarely had a chance
to fornicate.
It was very obvious that many problems were caused
because of the sharing and collecting of women. Violence broke out many times
in many societies because of men wanting more women or men stealing women. Sex
is the principal cause for mayhem and murder even today. In Christianity, sex
was never considered a sin until it was seen to cause trouble. That is why it
was a sin because polygamous relationships cause chaos of jealousy and
fighting. The monogamous Germanic tribes that frustrated the polygamous Romans
so much were able to agree with each other and direct their aggression towards
to fighting others.
Many historians believe that monogamous
relationships are the core of the family now because when monogamous men could
vote against polygamists, the polygamists had no chance to rule. Today, we see
politicians trying to keep the cleanest reputation they can so that monogamous
people will vote for them. Today, fornication is a very bid compromise for men
and women. Women have just as much say in it as men do (if not more).
The Myth of Monogamy:
Fidelity and Infidelity in Animals and People
By:
David P. Barash, Ph.D.
Judith
Eve Lipton, M.D.
An anthropologist by the name of Margaret Mead
defines monogamy as the hardest and rarest of all human marital
arrangements. There is powerful
scientific evidence supporting monogamy as being not “natural.” Humans can
be, maybe should be, but it is
unusual and difficult. Does monogamy
equal morality? Religious and moral
issues teach that nonmonogamy is wrong but it is this
inner restlessness that supports that it is against nature. Literature has also
had reflections on monogamy and infidelity like The Iliad and Lady
Chatterley’s Lover. There is always
the struggle to want to remain monogamous, although it is very difficult. Amongst all mammals, monogamy is nonexistent
and males do not care for the young. In
the 1930’s E.F. Knipling conducted a study on
screw-worm flies in agriculture. He
believed that sterilizing the males would lead to lower reproduction, but
reproduction still occurred, which led him to conclude that multiple mating is
practiced in order to procreate.
Geoffrey A. Parker, a British behavioral ecologist stated the idea of
sperm competition, which is another way of saying nonmonogamy. Charles Darwin was actually the first to
bring up this idea with a domestic goose mating with a Chinese goose, even
though it was another species. However,
Carlos Montano
Aracely Miron
Viet Mai
Stephene Porras
Gender Differences Report
Chapter 6
Outline for
- Keep many virgin women to himself (concubines)
- Other Indian men were basically Celibacy
- If they violated Atahualpa women then they would be killed along with their entire family, their animals, their servants and
villagers along with the entire village destroyed and then stoned.
- He and his noblemen had a majority holding in the paternity of next
generation.
- Most of the women he kept for himself, the rest married to favored
subjects.
fittest.
- Those who thought humans were unique advanced into 2 arguments
1. In humans everything about behavior is learned, not inherited.
(exaggerated)
2. Inherited behavior is inflexible behavior and humans are
clearly flexible (false)
- Inherited tendencies permeate everything we do and are
flexible
by adultery.
- This is seen when viewing the fifth method that compares humans to animals that share our highly social habitats.
what human nature seeks. (relaxing the anti-polygamy laws and it flourishes)
- Powerful men usually have more then one mate, even though they only
marry one.
- Human shouldn't have mating system (foolish) because they do what they want.
- Adapt their behavior to the prevailing opportunity
would be faithful.
- Men are expected to ask for females hand in marriage, males bow on one
knee or are the first to bring it up in conversation. . . therefore pounce.
creating an offspring and least likely to gain from each mating.
copulate, whereas women can only bear the child of one man only at a time.
children.
celibacy.
"unnatural" fate.
- Meaning: what is good for one person may not be good for another.
- Study showed 75% had 100+ partners, 25% had 1000+ partners (Kinsey
Institute study of Gay Men)
behave like women, but only more so.
- polygyny threshold model – a choice
- bigamist with territory or good genes
- monogamist with parental care
- mating system theory – a female’s choice
- choosing faithful males are better – monogamy
- mated males coerce females to mate – polygamy
- mated males are no worse than non-mated males – polygamy
- mated females prevent their male to mate again – monogamy
- Females live according to food and safety, not sex
- Proven animal studies
- antelopes
- chimpanzees
- Same ecology, different mating systems – ancestry
- Black grouse and red grouse
- have same habitat, enemies, and food, but different mating system
- black grouse are descended from forest dwellers
- grasslands and woodland savannas (generally unchanging)
- behavioral patterns still characteristic today
- combination of time and place
- luck not skill (no hoarding)
- monogamy
- hoarding – accumulated wealth – power
- polygamy
- brothers: ensure gene success
- reciprocity : “you help me, I help you”
- strength (simple animals)
- strength and cunning
- cunning (humans)
Highly Sexed Emperors
-
-
-
-
- Aztec
- Inca
- Wet nursing
- Fertility monitoring
- Claustration of the concubines
- She would be the queen
- She would raise the legitimate children
- Those children would be future rulers
- In Medieval times, monasteries and castles had harems of “employed” women for fornication
- Polygamy was still practiced, but much more secretive.
- Sexual competition led to murder and mayhem
- Monogamous societies like
Germanic tribes had less internal problems than Polygamous societies like
- Polygamous societies fought over women
- Made sex a sin if not from monogamous relationship
- Noticed that sin caused trouble
- Sex itself was never problem or sinful
- Iliad by Homer started with abduction of Helen
- In pre-agricultural societies, captives of war were more women than men.
- Shore leave of Navy has primary purpose of access to prostitutes
- Rape and war always have high correlation with each other
- Men found out that one faithful wife was better bet than going our killing for women
- Monogamy causes less chaos
- Not Christianity
- Not Women’s Rights
- Monogamists outvoted polygamists
- Monogamy became core of family during Industrial Age
- Polygamists have not survived in politics and power