The evolutionary origins of patriarchy |
| |
Authors: | Barbara Smuts |
| |
Institution: | (1) Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, 580 Union Drive, 48109-1346 Ann Arbor, MI |
| |
Abstract: | This article argues that feminist analyses of patriarchy should be expanded to address the evolutionary basis of male motivation
to control female sexuality. Evidence from other primates of male sexual coercion and female resistance to it indicates that
the sexual conflicts of interest that underlie patriarchy predate the emergence of the human species. Humans, however, exhibit
more extensive male dominance and male control of female sexuality than is shown by most other primates. Six hypotheses are
proposed to explain how, over the course of human evolution, this unusual degree of gender inequality came about. This approach
emphasizes behavioral flexibility, cross-cultural variability in the degree of partriarchy, and possibilities for future change.
This work was supported in part by NSF grant BNS-8857969.
Barbara Smuts is a professor of psychology and anthropology at the University of Michigan. She received her B.A. in social
anthropology at Harvard and her Ph.D. in bio-behavioral sciences at Stanford Medical School. She has studied the behavior
of wild chimpanzees, baboons, and bottlenose dolphins and is particularly interested in evolutionary, comparative analyses
of female-male relationships. |
| |
Keywords: | Patriarchy Male dominance Sexual coercion Human social evolution |
本文献已被 SpringerLink 等数据库收录! |
|