Reply #72: Biologist's take

[Darwins Finch]

I agree wholeheartedly with the original post. Let me add that, from a biological perspective, oppression of women is deeply wired into men. This is because, without controlling "his" women, a man cannot be sure that the children he sires are his own. (Sure, we can do this with DNA tests now, but I'm talking about an instinct based at a primal level.) So much of patriarchal control is based on this in-built instinct, which tells men at a subconscious level that the only way to ensure their genes are passed on is to make certain that no other male has access to "their" women.

This instinct expands at a social level too. Biologist have shown that there is a further instinct that makes animals protect members of their own closely-related kin against outsiders, since it means a greater likelihood of their gene pool surviving. In the same way, we practice xenophobia and nationalism to ensure that those we perceive as genetically closer to us prevail over those more different.

So much of human behaviour becomes clearer when you understand the animal nature behind it. We may, as individuals, be enlightened and sentient creatures, but on a communal scale we are still packs and herds.

PS - The other posters are also correct in describing the male as essentially an incomplete female. And as a possessor of a "broken X" myself, I can admit no inherent bias in that statement. :)

EDIT - spellchecking