🚀 go-pugleaf

On 28 Jan 1996 00:16:03 -0500, bostians@aol.com (Bostians) wrote:

>
>I have never been one to buy into the hormonal/neuro-chemical reason for
>gender role differences (or at least as the only reason for gender
>differences).  I think this mostly has to do with societal influence
>(girls don't "need" to know math so girls don't learn math) and individual
>personality (there are enough exceptions to these generalizations in both
>sexes to make anyone doubt their validity).  From my own experience, it's
>true that my brother and father both like the remote control more than I
>but I think this just means that their attention spans are shorter.  They
>channel surf to the point where I have to leave the room or lose my mind. 
>It doesn't have much to do with technology .  :)   As for driving - in
>grad school I drove campus buses and rather enjoyed the experience.  I'm
>also light years ahead of my brother in net surfing.  I think it's just a
>personality thing.


But clear gender difference in behaviour do emerge rather early in
life to be a result purely of social conditioning. Psychologists
observe in pre-school kids. The boys go for the toys, girls play with
other children.

And there's a clear evolutionary advantage in it. We did most of our
evolving in a tribal hunter-gather society. In such a society the
genetic capital of the tribe is primarily in the women. This is
because men have the potential for unlimited offspring and women
don't. As a result the most important function of the men is to do any
necessary dying. An optimum tribal society limits the risks taken by
it's fertile women to an absolute minimum (that minimum being child
birth). As a result the dangerous activities, war, hunting, politics,
are men's work.

The women may well run the show but they do so safely from behind the
men.

Because men are likely to be required to die they are fed rather more
bullshit that the women so that women are, IMHO, typically more
rational.

Things are changing now because many activities which were "men's
work" i.e. risky until lately have become safe enough that we can
afford to let women do them. You'll notice that the one area where
real danger still exists, the military, still holds out in most
countries.

---------------------------------+----------------------------------
I was born weird:  This terrible | Like Pavlov's dogs we are trained
compulsion to behave normally is | to salivate at the sound of the
the result of childhood trauma.  | liberty bell.
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Malcolm