The author's take on sexual selection sounds like it was written by someone on this forum.
From Chapter 5:
From Chapter 5:
Quote:Quote:
After climate, sexual selection is the next strongest selector for humans. 9 Sexual selection means that the sexes do not mate indiscriminately, but preferentially select individuals who have certain traits. Because populations that have a more “K” orientated reproductive strategy (fewer children, more child care) pair bond more, they have more stringent requirements for their mates and therefore have more sexual selection than populations that have a more “r” orientated reproductive strategy (more children, less child care).
Although both sexes do some selecting, especially in modern times, if the sexes are free to make a selection it will be the sex that has the most to lose by a poor choice that will select most cautiously, and that is usually females. 10 Because women need food not only for themselves, but also for their fetus and then their child, sex, at least until contraceptives came along, was very costly for them.
Thus, the balance between male selection and female selection shifts according to how much of the food and other resources each sex provides. In Africa, the women, even today, farm and gather food, so they have more selection power, 11 but in the colder climates more of the food was meat, especially in the winter, and hunting was done by men, shifting some selection power to men. (Miller, 1994a). As a result of selection by men, Eurasian women have become more beautiful 12 and, as a result of selection by women, Eurasian men have become workaholics and slightly more intelligent than Eurasian women (more intelligence = a better provider in Eurasia). African women have become slightly more intelligent than African men, however, who have become the more physically attractive sex. 13
The sex that has evolved a lot of superfluous traits, traits that are not useful in obtaining food, evading predators, and the like, but do appeal to the opposite sex, is certainly being sexually selected. For birds, it is almost always the male that has superfluous traits, as the male often has bright, colorful plumage and lovely songs that attract both females and predators; the superfluous traits tell females that the males must be of really high quality to be able to present such a display and not get eaten. Although the difference in beauty between men and woman is not as stark as between male birds and female birds, it is fair to say that, at least for Eurasians, the ladies have the edge in beauty, suggesting that men are doing some selecting of women, though women still do most of it. As (Coon 1962, p. 86) put it, “all females receive sexual attention. Among primates, [in order to reproduce] it is easier to be a female than to acquire one.” However, once meat became an important component of the human diet, the “meat for sex” trade 14 began to play a greater role and selection by men increased.
Selection by Women
If a woman and her children don’t need a man to survive, she can choose a man who is handsome and charming, but likely to leave after copulation. In other words, she can choose a “cad” and, if she can do so without diminishing the survival chances of herself and her children, she is more likely to do so. The handsome, charming cads then have more offspring and pass their alleles for cad-like behavior on to their sons. 15
On the other hand, if she is not capable of providing for herself and her children, she will have to be more practical and chose a man who is likely to stick around after sex and take care of her and her children, a “dad.” (Chu, 2007). Clark Gable for thrills, Joe Sixpack for bills. Of course, it would be nice if Joe Sixpack were also young, healthy, romantic, and had good genes, 16 but those qualities mean nothing if he does not provide for her and her children. Today, a woman can choose a man who can not, or will not, help her survive and the welfare state will force that man and other people (taxpayers) to provide for her and her children, but before the welfare state a woman who unwisely chose such a man would have a life of poverty and an early death.
It has been suggested that women select men for intelligence (Ananthaswamy, 2002), 17 and that may have played a significant role in man’s evolution towards higher intelligence. Intelligence, as we shall see (Chap. 14), correlates well with wealth, so intelligence is a way to identify men who have, or are likely to acquire, the resources needed to care for a woman and her children. 18 High status men are also likely to have access to more resources, and so high status is a strong magnet for the ladies. (Pollet, 2007). But since women today have less need for the resources of men, many women define “high status” less as having money and power 19 and more as being “cool,” i.e., having currently-fashionable clothes, language, and behavior.
Selection by Men
A man can impregnate many women and have far more children than can a woman, so a reproductively successful man can have a greater effect on the traits of future generations than can a reproductively successful woman. 20 Although a man can rape a woman, thereby eliminating any selection on her part, in most societies rape is not a good reproductive strategy as pregnancy is hit or miss and the penalties for rape may be severe. 21 But for a man with low status and few resources, rape can be worth the risk. 22 Other male strategies include paying for sex (prostitution) and sincere or deceitful courtship. (Shields, 1983, pp. 117-119; Wrangham, 1996, pp. 131-146).
If sex is going to cost a man little beyond an ejaculation he won’t be very selective. But if it is going to cost him a lifetime of support for a wife and children and possibly deter him from having sex with other women, 23 he will select much more carefully. (Power, 2006).
Since the better providers are desired by more women, but may not be able to support more than one, those men will select the woman they will provide for, and they will make that selection based on which woman they think will make a good wife and mother. 24 If they do not select on that basis, their children are less likely to survive and men who lack alleles for careful selection will be replaced by men who have them. A good future wife and mother must have a pleasant, caring personality, be young (i.e., many years of child-bearing), 25 healthy (i.e., capable of bearing and raising children), likely to be faithful (i.e., his children), and have “good genes.” Since good genes are required to make a face and body that are symmetrical and are not deformed or diseased, physical attractiveness is a good indication not only of health, but also of high quality genes. 26 Paradoxically, Eurasian women owe their beauty not to the choices made by their mothers, but to the choices made by their fathers, grandfathers, etc. 27