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Blog PostsA Q&A on Gender Relations
By Michael McGehee at Mar 16, 2009 |
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Question: Michael, what awakens a man to his true power, replacing his proclivity toward dominance? I don't think I've ever posed this question to any of the men I know, who have found their power...do you have an answer?
Answer: I don't know what you mean by true power. To me, who is deeply interested in sociobiology, the question is: what biological power do women have that men use social power to compensate for not having [I speculate that the power of 'sexual selection' could be an answer]? But answering how I have awakened myself to the issue of feminism: having a daughter helps! And being able to be honest about social relations does too. That seems to be about it. It's always easier for the oppressed to be aware of and honest about social relations than it is for the oppressor, so finding ways for men to be faced with how they are a party to inequitable gender relations and what they could be doing differently seems to be a good strategy, and it makes it easy if you can make it personal. That's what I meant about the daughter thing. I have a daughter and the idea of her being submissive to or below men is not an attractive thought. So I want to understand it and do something about it.
Question: Michael, I do so appreciate where you are coming from as a father and a sociobiologist...do you think that perhaps feminine biological power emerges as a response to dominance...as compensation, rather than enticing it? I see dominance as absence of power, absence of ability to communicate and collaborate, inability to see a larger context, inability to make room for the contributions of the many--rather myopic in nature and controlling--the need for control stems from fear--how do we identify our fears and make room for something better? A powerful person, whether masculine or feminine, empowers others...no doubt like you do for your daughter?
Answer: I am not a sociobiologist. It's just a field of science I am interested in. And, no, our social relations did not come before sexual selection. We inherited human dimorphism - which largely explains sexual selection - through an evolutionary process that was going on millions of years before our species and its social relations emerged. I think we can identify the issue by looking at how privilege and responsibilities are distributed. So, a friend works all day and then watches the kids all night while her husband 'unwinds' with his friends. Identifying this issue and proposing the obvious solution seems to be best. He needs to share the burden of child rearing and equitably distribute 'unwinding with the buds' time. (What kills me is that when she does get to 'unwind' he still doesn't watch the kids. He has her arrange for other family members do it!!!!!) In my home there is no 'man of the house' and responsibilities and privileges are equitably distributed.
im such an asshole
By McGehee, Michael at Apr 01, 2009 09:23 AM
i just noticed i described raising a child as a "burden." I hope that wasnt a freudian slip because i happen to really enjoy parenting and feel fulfilled by being an active parent (my wife tells me i need to back off sometimes to keep from smuthering the girl - but dammit, being a Daddy to a little girl is so intoxicating).
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P.S.
By McGehee, Michael at Mar 16, 2009 10:38 AM
While the specific gender differences (sexual dimorphism) we inherited are a factor in the sexual selection of our species (i.e. we inherited women to be the ones who get pregnant, breast feed and so on, and these biological features play into our sexual selection - i.e. because women invest more they tend to be more choosey with who to copulate with and this is why men compete more to be with women, which can explain why men are most likely to do the flirting in bars or on internet sites like myspace.com) the sexual dimorphism we inherited evolved by means that likely included sexual selection.
For example, birds and spiders and mammals like lions have evolved remarkable differences between the sexes: male birds of paradise or male ducks have beautiful plumage while the females look, in my opinion, bland; female spiders are generally much larger and more colorful than male spiders; and the male lion has the huge head dress that females dont have. To take another example: the antlers on male moose. These features evolved by factors that include, among others, sexual selection. Female moose choose male moose with big antlers. Therefore male with big antlers see more offspring, thus exaggerating the sexual dimorphism between males and females
So while sexual dimorphism can explain sexual selection, so to can sexual selection explain sexual dimorphism.
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