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Glenn Wilson PhD, Gresham College, London

Glenn Wilson PhD, Gresham College, London. SEX WARS. THE CONFLICTING NEEDS OF MEN AND WOMEN. DOMESTIC VIOLENCE. A high proportion of all violence is domestic (23% in this Scottish study). Majority of victims are women but also many men (around 40% ). GENDER BATTLES.

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Glenn Wilson PhD, Gresham College, London

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  1. Glenn Wilson PhD, Gresham College, London SEX WARS THE CONFLICTING NEEDS OF MEN AND WOMEN

  2. DOMESTIC VIOLENCE A high proportion of all violence is domestic (23% in this Scottish study). Majority of victims are women but also many men (around 40% ).

  3. GENDER BATTLES Alliances may be forged within gender for political reasons, e.g. equal pay, anti-rape campaigns. In Aristophanes comedy Lysistrata, the women gang together to withhold sex from their men until they stop the war with Sparta.

  4. INTEREST IN CASUAL SEX Men have a greater interest in partner variety and one-night stands than women. Because of their greater parental investment, women prefer to wait until there is evidence of emotional involvement.

  5. THE TYRANNY OF AMBIGUITY Men often infer sexual interest where only friendliness is intended (thus causing offense). Women sometimes use flirtation to get what they want (resulting in resentment).

  6. MALE DECEPTION Men sometimes seduce women by feigning emotional commitment. Women guard against this by requiring greater courtship effort and investment.

  7. THE OLDEST PROFESSION One solution to the conflicting needs of men (casual sex) and women (resources) is prostitution.

  8. Women are more likely to take offense but particularly if the man is married, unattractive, older or of low occupational status. Approaches seen as coercive and sexual rather than romantic are less welcome. SEXUAL HARASSMENT

  9. IS RAPE ADAPTIVE? Rape may have evolved because, although risky and repugnant, it gives “losers” a chance of gene replication when consenting sex is not available. Rapists tend to be high in libido, impulsive, lacking empathy, with a history of property crime, but are not usually sexually deprived.

  10. RAPE AND FERTILITY Rape victims seem to get pregnant beyond chance: 8% against 3% for one-night stand (unprotected). Women targeted by rapists are especially fertile at the time. Tend to be young, attractive, vulnerable and likely to be ovulating.

  11. ASKING FOR IT? Women are more flirtatious when ovulating (exposing more flesh and dancing more provocatively). They are also more interested in sex, more easily aroused, and prone to infidelity. Idea that women “contribute to their own rape” is highly controversial.

  12. PHEROMONE WARS Men secrete androstenone which repels women except for those that are ovulating. Women secrete copulins which interfere with male’s ability to discriminate against unattractive women.

  13. INFANTICIDE Lions kill offspring of lioness not fathered by themselves before reimpregnating them. c.f., Greater likelihood of human baby being murdered by step-parent (40-100x). Mothers who kill their own babies are usually in the thrall of new male partner.

  14. RATES OF CHILD MURDER

  15. INFIDELITY Men gain genetic advantage from wider gene distribution, hence desire for multiple partners. Women may gain from affairs through “fertility insurance” and acquisition of “good genes”. Paternal discrepancyis about 10%.

  16. BREEDING STRATEGIES Promiscuity (bonobo & chimpanzee). Coercive sex (orang-utan). Harem-building (gorilla). Monogamy (gibbon). Pick and mix (humans).

  17. SPERM COMPETITION Promiscuity and infidelity promote sperm competition and large testicles. Human sperm are not all the same. Apparently some are egg-getters; others kamikazes (specialised to destroy sperm of other males in the female reproductive tract). May be important because 30% of sexually experienced women report having had sex with different men within 24hrs.

  18. JEALOUSY Jealousy is the emotion felt when one feels threatened by a love rival. For men this focuses on sexual penetration (fear of cuckoldry). For women emotional involvement is a bigger issue (fear of relationship loss).

  19. MATE RETENTION TACTICS Men favour display of resources (expensive gifts), vigilance (checking on partner) concealment (leaving partner at home), submission (pleading), threatening rivals with violence and partner with punishment. Women favour appearance enhancement (clothes & make-up) & jealousy induction (showing interest in rivals to keep partner on toes).

  20. DENIGRATION Abuse, insult, humiliation and public belittling of the partner may be a mate retention tactic – making them feel worthless, so they think nobody else would want them. Many women stay in abusive relationships because their self-confidence has been destroyed.

  21. SEX ADDICTION Sexual excitement seeking may be so strong that the happy home is disrupted and charges of harassment may occur. Attaching medical-style labels may help individuals evade responsibility for their behaviour and promote drug treatments.

  22. MAKING PEACE Sex conflict is deep-rooted because male and female needs are not always complementary. First step to peace is mutual understanding (recognition of natural differences). This needs to be followed by tolerance and negotiated compromise.

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