GENDER WARS

There is this thing about the “natural order” or the “moral order” of things that seems pervasive in society. We see it in one form or another in our culture as a universal, meaning anthropologists have found it in all cultures no matter where you find them. In fact, we even see it in animal behavior, which means it is not just found in our cultural refinement of social behavior but it is fundamental in social structure in the most primitive sense—in all creatures great and small. We see it in all forms of human social behavior ranging from family structure, political structure, state structure, and even among nations.  Along with strength, and intelligence, we have it ingrained as part of hierarchy dominance. Because of an interest in evolutionary psychology, I find these ideas and attitudes especially interesting.

Imagine if you will, kin group organization, as it existed 150,000 years ago. There is no more normal grouping than the kin or family group: a mother cares for her baby and the father is in the group. How do we define the group and who is the leader? First, the question is a normal one based on our intuitive acceptance that there will be hierarchy dominance with a leader. Second, and equally intuitive, genetic determinism clearly indicates that the male is larger stronger than the female. Although it may not be that way in some species, it is undeniable that it is that way in ours. Add 100,000 years of experience and the known evolution of our mentality, logic forces us to recognize that animals add intelligence to strength. Even in apes, people who study these things tell us, one male using his intelligence, will gather “colleagues” to help him protect his leadership position.

Our culture has been going through a series of fundamental changes founded on hunter-gatherer history, which was advanced from our bestial existence—our culture evolved. Men are indisputably, the head of families. My father was the head of our family but my mother always got her way. In the oldest recorded history, which deals with religious behavior over several thousand years, women had to wear some form of head covering before male “priest” would allow them into the temple. Men were the only people allowed at the ballot box. Then women’s suffrage happened, which meant for the first time women had a direct say in who the men elected. Certainly, there were no women on the ballot. Now, not only can women vote but also there are increasing numbers of women on the ballot and are being elected to public office—by men and women. We have women supporting families and men staying at home taking care of children. This is different from a woman taking care of a farm because her husband died or ran off. These are not cave men. Many men object and some women agree with them but clearly, the trend is going the other way. Think about it, this sea change is happening in one lifetime, in our lifetime. These changes are disturbing what some refer to as the “natural order”. Thus, creates social unrest.

We talk about Republicans representing the “moral order” and liberals fighting to destroying it. The liberal interpretation is that they are fighting for gender equality or fairness in society; all men and women are crated equal, not as the founding documents say, all mean are created equal. Keep in mind that many of the founding fathers were slave owners. Aside from themselves, they created “moral groups” for women just as they created a “moral groups” for slaves.  It was their “God given” right to do so because they were the leaders; what they meant was it seemed biologically right; it was instinct. How empathy has changed the world!

Currently, the ugly subject of rape is in the headlines because of the men and women in the military. This has created a battlefield unlike any other battlefield. Men and women have shared the work place for years so why this sudden flurry of discontentment over sexual aggression: why the battle. First, the military is a unique segment of society that not only retains but also operates on the principle of primitive hierarchy.  Gender dominance that is falling away outside the military is having a hard time changing within the military; it is a war with a fundamental biological basis, which sex is. Weaponry has neutralized individual physical strength; a woman with an assault weapon is as strong as a man with and assault weapon. A woman setting looking at a computer screen directing rocket fire is as effective as a man is. The second factor is that women are entering the military in larger numbers—society says it is their right to do so and there is not logical argument to deny the truth of this statement. The result is the mixture of macho men with women in a structured environment where rank is power. Rank suddenly is a substitute for physical strength.

People who follow this blog spot know that I have traced the social evolution of rape from the primitive or bestial to the liberal interpretation of 2013. Animal behavior knows no such thing as rape. Generally, there is no selection of breeding partners among animals. However, with the advent of mentality, as and the realization of survival of the fittest, females began to “select” males. The best hunter for example is the best provider, thus the child has best change of survival. Of course, there is a conflation of individuals and groups, meaning the group with the best hunters will be the strongest and will have the best chance of survival—to put two million years of evolution in one sentence. The point is that females engaged the battle of the sexes thousands of years ago. The strongest male fought off other males and bred the female that was fertile. The female fought off the male she did not want as a father and selected the one she did want as a father for her child because she wanted her child to survive. She, the physically weaker of the two sexes, had to use her intellect and physical strength to fight off the most persistent and the strongest; in the military, the strongest is not only the physically strongest but also the one with the highest rank. We have codified female selection from biology into laws we live by as civilian life but now we must do the same thing in the military. We have gone from “no such thing as rape” to making rape a “heinous crime”, no matter where you find it.

It is easy to predict the outcome of this battle of the sexes but we still have to fight it. We are still fighting to get women in congress, we are still fighting to get women equality in the work place, and we are still fighting to have men and women to share family leadership. Solving the rape problem is a big step but is only one-step of many in our humanization. We can codify it in a matter of months but it will take generations for everyone to accept it. We are upsetting the “natural order” and replacing it with a “new order”, an order of symmetrical equality based on empathy. 

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