The Evolution of Men and Women

The ‘selfish gene’ is an excellent metaphor. Evolution seeks to maximise gene replication within the local reproducing group in the context of the environment. It does so by distributing genes among vehicles (organisms) which are each motivated to maximize their inclusive fitness, making the most of the genes that they have been allocated. We show how this gives rise to asexual and sexual reproduction, males and females, and four distinct mating systems, polygyny, monogamy, polyandry and eusociality. Humans are monogamous, which gives rise to a male dominance hierarchy and pairbonding, with men being assessed by their rank and reliability, and women by their fertility. the ultimate trajectory of evolution is towards making reproduction increasingly efficient, which manifests itself in societies evolving such that their primary goal is to police the male dominance hierarchy.