Power, Harassment, and Trophy Mates: The Feminist Advantages of an Evolutionary Perspective

Abstract

Abstract When Darwin (1859) first proposed his theory of natural selection, it was regarded as a radical affront to the established order because it moved Homo sapiens from a special place at God’s right hand to just another randomly selected spot on an ever-changing map. Ironically, some social scientists now seem to regard any application of Darwinian theory to human behavior as an attempt to bolster the established order, supposedly replacing cherished models of random cultural variation with a god-given and inviolable set of genetic blueprints. In particular, a number of social scientists believe that evolutionary theorists wish to lock men and women into rigid “genetically determined” sex roles that position men as omnipotent Gods and women as their humble handmaidens. This misperception is unfortunate for several reasons. To ignore the evolutionary history of any species is to blind oneself to some of the key pieces needed to explain the puzzle of why they do the things they do. This is as true of Homo sapiens as it is of any other living species. Another reason particularly relevant to the psychology of gender differences is that the alternative perspectives have often focused on narrow, male-oriented definitions of power and have failed to give females their due.