"I do think women are genetically wired to pursue commitment more than men--we haven't lost that part of our monkey brains yet. But many women can overcome that impulse or are less interested in commitment due to their circumstances growing up."

I agree that this is true and I think multiple mates is a strong evolutionary directive in men.  Interestingly (and you've probably heard this), studies of bonobos and chimps have shown that the females, while establishing long term partnerships with a male, will have sex on the sly with males that are socially and physically "superior" but will raise the offspring with their mate.  They increase their chances for dominant offspring this way.  So the evolutionary sword cuts both ways when it comes to cheating.  Maybe that will make Ana feel a little better about  the whole thing. 

"Men seem evolutionarily drawn towards the feminine, week, and needy for some reason."

Well, naturally toward the feminine.  There are certain physical characteristics that are going to make any woman more successful at finding a mate no matter what.  There's no getting around this -  it's hard-wired into the male brain. 

I don't know about "weak" though.  That isn't it.  Can't a woman be both feminine and strong?  That idea is what really trips the trigger for me.  I would phrase it more like this:  Men seem to have an evolutionary predisposition to dominate.  I think they just tend to be more successful at this with a weaker woman and so they settle for it.

by bfaul on 01/23/2009 06:34:51 PM EST

[ Parent ]

Except that what a person considers to be feminine characteristics is heavily, if not entirely, influenced by the environment in which they're brought up.

desertpear's post contains a perfect example of this, which you've noticed: he (she?) considers weakness to be a feminine trait. This belief is at odds with reality.

And now I'd ask you to extend that skeptical line of questioning to your own assumptions. Do men actually have an evolutionary predisposition to dominate? The evidence weighs against that conclusion. There's an awful lot of child-rearing that teaches boys to be dominating, and girls to be submissive. If the urge to dominate were really so genetically hardwired, we wouldn't need any of this. The fact that we have to teach these behaviors indicates that it's NOT hardwired to do so.

You're committing a very common fallacy, which is to think, "Because I feel something strongly, it must be hardwired into me." It's the same fallacy that the religious make: because they feel better when they pray, they are then convinced that their god or gods must be real, or how else would they get these good feelings?

by QED on 01/27/2009 01:37:41 PM EST

[ Parent ]