Maggie's Farm

Ref: sex and roles

Interestingly, since the big hubbub broke, my wife has been saying not only does this happen, but it happens a lot more than people realize (sometimes the participants even deny it to themselves).


From an evolutionary psychological standpoint this interpretation makes perfect sense. In a nutshell:


Among mammals, female humans are virtually alone in that they remain sexually receptive even when not fertile. Virtually all mammalian females are sexually inactive at those times. The probable reason is that, unlike other mammals where the female can raise the young entirely on her own through the brief period of helplessness (think of a dog, or house cat), human young are vulnerable, and need intensive care, for a very long time (and are born in a much more undeveloped state). The demands on the mother are far extreme, both in care and the toll it takes on her body.

Consider the evolutionary impact of a small change that disables the sexual response 'switch': the female remains sexually active, the male tends to stick around and, as part of that interaction, provides protection and resources with less effort on her part. The advantage to the young is enormous and could quickly become the dominant genetic behavior.


The upshot of this is that the non-reproductive sexual behavior in humans is basically about resources. Sex provides additional physical and social capital to human females (whether through structured marriage or other ad hoc arrangements) ... whether they realize it or not, human males and females instinctively follow this pattern. Males are attuned to providing benefits in the interest of sex, one way or another females that use this social resource wisely can have an advantage.


Evolution in action.