Sexual ecology

[vaneramos]

From an article by Laura Spinney:

Darwin argued that male characteristics evolve because females select mates that display those characteristics. This, according to Joan Roughgarden of the Department of Biological Sciences at Stanford University in California, led to the notion that females are discerning and males promiscuous, eggs expensive and sperm cheap, and a whole area of evolutionary psychology based on those notions that is fundamentally flawed.

Joan Roughgarden is a transgendered woman and the article presents some interesting arguments about gender roles. You will need to register for BioMedNet to view the article, but registration is free:

Darwin overlooked the seahorses

Comments

gender rolls

[dubious-one.livejournal.com]

what an interesting topic of conversation. it is so apparent yet so latent in society. i had an english comp class in which we talked about gender roles almost everyday and people would storm out of the classroom in tears. it was fabulous! ofcourse, we did have a feminist-lesbian-way-left-wing-liberal professor at a catholic university, which made it all the more fun. i think looking at different characteristics of "lower" species makes for a good example...like how male versions of most species have specific attributes to "attract" females. it's all so much fun!