The evolutionary approach argues that gender role division is a consequence of the adaptation to the challenges and circumstances faced by our ancestors. This suggests that the role differences we observe are more a product of our biological inheritance and evolution than social factors acting on our behavior. As evolutionary theory is a biological approach to gender development, it suggests that our genes have coded aspects of human behavior because they were or are adaptive. However a debate to this approach is the nature vs. nurture approach, nature supporting the evolutionary approach being that we have evolved through survival and adaptation to the situations and therefore passing on the adaptive genes of the survivors. Nurture on the other hand is a view, is a view proposed by the social approach suggesting that behavior is affected by socialization and environment.
Discuss the relationship between sexual selection and human reproductive behaviourThe Darwinian concept of natural selection involves the concept of 'survival of the fittest' this links directly to sexual selection as the genes that ensure survival and thus enhances reproductive success will be passed to the next generation. Two processes that take place in sexual selection and that are shown in human reproductive behaviour are intra-sexual and inter-sexual selection. Intra-sexual selection is mate competition where members of one sex will compete for members of the opposing sex, the traits of the successful individuals will be passed on to the next generation. Inter-sexual selection is mate choice, this involves developed preferences and
In evolutionary terms a male can reproduce and almost infinite amount of times when compared to a female who can only reproduce every 9 months minimum (Buss, 1995). In evolutionary terms a male is also looking to reproduce to pass on his genetic legacy in his offspring. As mentioned humans have evolved to a level where most of the recessive genes have not been passed on and that there are now clear characteristics that males seek when looking for a healthy partner. Due to the nature of western society it is frowned upon for a male to have multiple sexual partners due to the level of investment that can actually be provided. That means that although in evolutionary terms a male is able to reproduce at a far higher rate that females in humans they are more likely to settle on one sexual partner, in accordance with the fact that the males resources will be limited and stretched thin over a long period of time, it would not be possible to rear multiple offspring with different sexual partners.
Women Outlive Men “Men are better than women. Men should not do what women do because it will cause indignity.” Almost all of people are familiar with this quotation. There are many people who still believe that women are weaker than men, but it is the time for them to think about it again. People think that men are stronger than women because they can run faster, lift heavier weight, and do everything that women could not do. In fact, women outlive men by about five to six years.
Another main reason is the simple fact people are marrying later for many reasons, more because of the change in attitudes towards education and religion (seclurisation). It doesn’t help that the countrys ecnomy is in decline and the price of weddings not only was expensive enough but they are also getting dearer to match the current cost of living. From 1838 until. Nearly a quarter of children lived with only one parent (25%) last year and nine out of ten of these households were headed by
‘To put it at its most basic, women want resources and men want to spread their genes.’ Discuss the evolutionary approach to explaining parental investment in humans e.g. sex differences, parent-offspring conflict. Men and women both have different sexual preferences and behaviours which may have been shaped by evolution, the evolutionary theory of relationships believes that the reproductive behaviours of men and women today have their origins in the evolutionary past and exist because they provided survival or reproductive advantages to out ancestors. Men and women seek different qualities in a relationship and in partner selection, a women looks for resources and a male seeks to spread his genes. David Buss (1989) conducted a cross cultural study looking at partner preferences in both genders, data was collected from a total of 4,601 men and 5,446 women aged between 18 and 28.
After all, it takes nine months to have a child, and pregnancy is followed by lactation, when a woman may nurse her infant. Men, on the other hand, need only contribute sperm during a sex act that may require only a few minutes. The result is that men are generally more available for mating than are women. Because more men are available, they necessarily have to compete with others for the privilege of mating. Like many other animals, humans are dimorphic.
"Advertisers often emphasize sexuality and the importance of physical attractiveness in an attempt to sell products; researchers are concerned that this places undue pressure on women and men to focus on their appearance" (Dr. Harrison Pope, 1997). A survey in 1996 stated that the media were making woman fear being unattractive or old and furthermore that advertisements were adversely impacting on woman's body image (Saatchi and Saatchi 1996). The impact of unrealistic body image is not just confined to women. Men and more specificity teenage boys are adversely affected by self-confidence issues as well. The average male/female today views 400 to 600 advertisements per day, by the time they are 17 years old, they would have received over 250,000 commercial messages through the media.
Now if the male is also a college graduate the pay gap will increase to $2,482 a month and total of $1,192,000 during their whole career (Henslin, 2010, p. 316). According to Henslin (2010) “The pay gap is so great that U.S. women who work full-time average only 72 percent of what men are paid” (p. 318). The pay gap isn’t just based of gender but also physical appearance plays a role. Not only does a tall male make more than a short male by $166,000 but tall women also make more than short women. But we go back to the gender inequality because taller men make more than taller women.
It also shows that in the United States that the jealousy rates are higher overall. Buunk explains that men would be more affect from a sexual relationship because it damages their chances of producing offspring. Men have the instinct in providing his genes to the future generation, and if the woman has a sexual relation with another man, the issue of who the father is becomes apparent. A woman does not have to worry about the baby being hers, because she is the reproducer, but the man has to