FEMALE DOMINANCE

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC NEWS (2003) 11/25

If you look at a group of chimps our nearest cousin, it appears outwardly that the males run everything. Further, the alpha male runs off other males to the margins of the group. By necessity, females form a sister hood to support each other in raising the next generation.

Evolutionary psychology suggests that male’s domiminate by brutish force and the females win by fighting smart. That is they are coy.

So as the alpha male appears to run things, the females are generally larger in groups. They have a tendency to move if they don’t like the alpha. As they move they attract more males. They also cycle toward the same time toward fertility that means the alpha is overwhelmed by females wanting sex and more males wanting females for sex. So what happens is that the alpha is overwhelmed by the females and other males. The big guy is exhausted and vulnerable to a take over by another female sponsored alpha.

There is time lag between numbers of males compared to the larger groups of females.

So more females can reproduce with the one they are attracted to without the old alpha trying to kill of the kids, because they are not his.

After an exhaustive study of over 40 hominids of which humans also belong, the above scenario seems to blossom. The larger the number of females, the more males shows up.

The alpha is exhausted and the females are fine and they may have gotten the lover that they wanted.

The males are beaten and bruised and the sisterhood goes on. What appears to be “girl power” is the constant drive of the male. That is his downfall. The more fights and sex the more likely they are to die. Females outnumber males in human population too. If they have control over their body and have bonds with beta males and new alphas on the way up or out, they succeed.