Men, Women, Sex, And Darwin, By Natalie Angier

This is Damian form your Monday's & Wednesday's 12:30 pm class , it came to my attention that there seemed to be some problems relating to the test we just took on chapter 2 of the Human Sexuality class. Personally, im under the impression that i took the new exam although it had no timer applied to it and some of the question's apparent responses seem a little contradictional. On this questions for example # 1; "Which of the following statements regarding the desire phase of sexual response is true?" , #2; In which of the following areas would Masters and Johnson's research on sexual response be least helpful?, #3; Which of the following most accurately describes the plateau phase?, the book clearly states that this is

Much of the research documenting sex differences in mate choice focus on preferences rather than on real life choices. So a male may have a preference but may have to settle for much less.

The article, The Cult of Womanhood: 1820 - 1860 written by Barbara Welter discusses the philosophy towards women in America during the mid 19th century. A set of demands and expectations based upon four principles: piety, purity, submission and domesticity were placed on women as well as certain behavioral expectations left 19th century women feeling guilty. It also left women feeling this way during the industrialization period as well as having a huge presence of incompatibility with society. Welter shares her viewpoint that the Cult of Womanhood was an attempt to preserve pre modern values in the industrial age. Men held a dominant place in society and continued to prevent new opportunities for women to explore. Narrow minded

‘The French are sophisticated. The Americans are brash. The Japanese polite. As for the English, well, they’re just so damned proper about everything. And let’s not even talk about the Kiwi’s, shall we? But what about the Australians?

In “The Myth of Homosexuality” by Christine Downing, there is the discussion of homosexuality and its meaning over the years. Downing begins the article by stating how a myth has classified women-on-women and men-on-men relationships to fall under the same term of homosexuality, but there is much deeper understanding to it than that. The classification under one word has caused a lot of shaping concerning how they are viewed or how they view themselves. In order to look past the surface of what defines the myth, Downing states that we must start with the culture’s myth and it’s origin.

When discussing female long-term mating strategies, it has been identified that there are certain preferences in which a female desire from a mate (Buss, 2008). Preferences include, a preference for economic resources, a preference for industriousness and ambition, a preference for a good physical appearance and health, and also a preference for dependability and stability. Females prefer someone they can invest in and someone that is willing to invest in them also. And they also desire a mate that can physically protect them and their children and that is both healthy and displays compatibility. There are preconditions as too why these preferences have evolved, such as the idea that resources have been made more defensible and accruable and are more controlled by men, and the idea that men would have to be different between each other in their willingness to somewhat invest their resources in both women and their children. Belsky et al (1991) discovered that some men would rather invest in many women rather than one women and their children as this would mean them

Bailey, Beth. Sex in the Heartland. Cambridge, Massachusetts, and London, England: Harvard University Press, 1999.

In the editorial “What Do Women Want” by Dennis Prenger, he makes several claims about what a woman truly wants in a man. Prenger claims that women just want to be loved by a man who admires her, as long as he has certain qualities. Those qualities are strength, integrity, and ambition. He states, “Strength without integrity is machismo. Integrity without strength or without ambition makes a man a milquetoast. And ambition without integrity makes for a successful crook.” These are of course some big claims he is making as many women can think differently than this. He backs up his claims throughout the essay but also explains that some women laugh at the idea that all a woman wants is to be loved by a man she admires.

Evolutionary history effects more than just genetic behaviour level. It also effects how society socializes its members. Males –despite having the innate behaviors and perspectives on relationships— experience socialization that, in essence, reinforces gender differences in perspectives and behavior. From early childhood up until adulthood, the individual is bombarded with a plethora of advertisments that portray males as more aggressive (Henslin p. 78). In television male newscasters turn female athletes into sexual objects (78). And socialization is not limited to the media. It begins in the home –within the family. In an experiment performed by Goldberg and Lewis, Mothers were more less likely to keep their boys

In the article the researchers were trying to challenge the sexual strategies theory. It seems as though sexual strategies theory is different genders having different preferences when choosing a mate, in the case of long and short term relationships. The hypothesis at first was that both boys and girls felt that attractiveness was important. Girls would be more inclined to date someone because of social status and that boys would be the complete opposite. They also expected that social status would only become important when the person is attractive and social status would be important no matter if the person is attractive on no for girls. The last thing that was tested was according to Ha (2009) “the potential moderator effects of

Dr. Tatiana’s Sex Advice to All Creation, written by Olivia Judson, mimics a Dear Abby column in a newspaper, in which her audience, ranges from a honeybee to spotted hyena, write-in and ask for help with their sex lives. She covers a slew of different sex topics, some more pleasant than others, such as incest, cannibalism, promiscuousness, and asexual reproduction. The book is truly a witty yet entertaining excursion of the natural history and the evolutionary biology of sex. Judson’s objective is to teach her audience about biology, specifically sexual biology.

The majority of the time the person who is left longing for more than just a casual hookup is the female. Women, by nature, are more likely to become more emotionally attached, especially when it comes to sexual activities. However, most of the time, girls will be willing to play along with the game of hooking up. Perhaps, in hopes, that it will someday lead to something more. But, if and when it doesn’t, they can be left emotionally distraught. Girls will become attached to the person they are with and grow to have a sincere care for them. However, when it comes to picking a mate, boys are not as particular about the girl. A study, Age and gender differences in mate selection criteria for various involvement levels found that “men should be equally as selective as women with respect to long-term mates, but less selective than woman with respect to short-term mates criteria (Kenrick).” Boys are less likely to think about all aspects of girl when planning on hooking up with her, unlike girls. They are not as particular because they are just looking for

Another evolutionary explanation of gender development is mate choice, which suggests that gender role behaviours are related to reproductive strategies. It is thought that men will look for women who are young whereas women are usually more interested in the resources of a mate. This can be explained from an evolutionary perspective as mating with a physically attractive woman

The first few chapters discuss in depth both the general rules for mate selection and the differences in mate selection and varying preferences for male and female genders. As explained in the intro the author theorizes that the current behavior of humans in relation to mating behavior can be linked to our evolutionary past. He references Charles Darwin 's theory of evolution and his idea of natural selection, which is the the process through which organisms adapt to their environment and in doing so tend to

According to a study undertaken by Lewis and Brown (2004), men have an innate preference to be in a relationship with women who are less dominant and conform more to traditional gender roles. This is believed to stem from early human history, where men wished to ensure their genes were carried forward to the next generation. One way to ensure this would have been to find a woman who is less dominant and therefore easier to have influence over. The female offspring from such a union would also have a better chance of ensuring submissive women for future generations (Lewis & Brown, 2004).