In 1948, A.J. Bateman established a concept in the sexual sciences that has made its way into popular thought and stayed there. He argued simply that sperm was cheap. So cheap and easy to manufacture in fact that men were born to spread their cheap seed as widely as possible and ignore all else. Females, on the other hand, had to pick their mates carefully. Since they have to carry the children and care for them, they have to be very careful who they mate with to get the best and healthiest babies. The women choose, he claimed, while the men simply flit about trying to pollinate every female they can find.
This concept has been accepted even in non-scientific circles to explain all manner of male behavior including the tendency to philander. The simple argument was made that men are simply carrying out the programmed response of evolution. Men are SUPPOSED to spread their genes as far as they can; it’s as nature intended.
Sadly for Bateman and the philanderers, he was, in fact, mostly wrong. Bateman had been studying a particular species of fruit fly, drosophila melanogaster. The females of this particular species do behave as Bateman describes in his theory but they’re a rare exception. Other species within this genus and in fact insects and animals in general exhibit exactly the opposite behavior. Typically, it’s the female who seeks out as many mates as she can while the males are desperately trying to protect their genetic heritage.
In fact, the more mates a female has, the more healthy offspring she will produce. This competition between males (and between their sperm) ensures that her eggs are not only fertilized, but fertilized by the fittest and strongest sperm from a wide variety of sources. This process also safeguards against the loss of an entire breeding season because she has chosen a mate who is infertile or simply genetically incompatible. With a wide range of sperm from many different males competing for her eggs, she raises the chances that each attempt at reproduction will be a successful one.
So as it turns out, women are really the ones programmed to sleep around. Enjoy!
Bibliography
Judson, Olivia, Dr. Tatiana’s Sex advice to all creation,
Metropolitan Books, Henry Holt and Company,
2 comments:
And the controversy rages on at Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Bateman's_principle
I was amused at how one contributor to the discussion made sure he/she explained that a "slippery dick" was a type of fish! ;)
One thing's for sure -- while they're debating this on Wikipedia, none of them are ... er ... reproducing.
Yeah, this is one of the problems with doing anything even remotely 'factual'. It's just like that Anthropic Principle guy who tore around here for a couple weeks. There's endless debate on even the simplest most self-evident fact. Why can't we just pick an answer and stick with it? What kind of science is it that constantly examines itself and tests its own theories... hrm. Now wait a minute...
This is a good reminder though that everything's up for debate. I'm pretty sure I'm not interested enough to keep up with all the contenders though. The author's argument makes sense. I'm sure I'll read something else shortly that will disagree completely.
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