Further On the Primacy of Women: Across the mammal class, adult females are capable of raising and providing for children without the assistance of males. Males are fundamentally only sperm donors. Furthermore, given the cost among higher mammals of bearing and raising children, fertile females are a limiting resource. And these circumstances lead almost inevitably to a terrible selective cycle for male violence: Males that can dominate fertile females are the ones whose genes survive. Sure enough, across primates we find males evolved to control reproductive access to females and kill competing males. Read these really great essays on the topic:
- Violent enough to stand still – Why violent men who dominate women (literally) beat kinder and gentler alternatives.
- The origins of patriarchy – How women are the most valuable limited resource.
- Why do humans ever develop? – How humans broke out of the pre-Malthusian cycle of clan violence.