Studs and sluts

Time for another entry in what I like to call my "annoy as many people as possible with my half-assed theories" collection. Today the topic is why promiscuous men are lauded (or at least tolerated with a roll of the eyes) and why promiscuous women are condemned (or at least viewed by most with a certain degree of contempt). If you're sitting comfortably, let us begin...

It's the genes, stupid. Isn't everything? Come with me to a time way back when, in the distant past, when men wrestled sabre-toothed tigers and considered the possibility of somehow projecting a moving image of the world around us (preferably the exploding fireballs around us) onto a giant screen so they could watch it while scratching themselves, and women gathered berries and dreamed of the day someone would invent cute shoes. In those halcyon days the males of the species would try to have sex with as many females as possible, starting with the most attractive and ending with the least, and again ad infinitum, while the females of the species would (rapes aside) consider each potential suitor in turn and allow one of them to, er, fulfill himself.

In slightly more detail, men would first approach the most attractive female. That is, the woman with the clearest skin, brightest eyes, shiniest hair, etc. -- all the things that contribute to sexual attractiveness and, not in the least coincidentally, also indicate good health. He would attempt to win her over. Whether or not he succeeded would depend on the female. If she considered him sexually attractive -- meaning the same indicators of health men sought but also muscularity indicating strength, as well as non-physical factors such as the male's status within the group (often indicating ambition and intelligence) and so on. If the woman considered the man worthy, she would allow him to have sex with her. This, she may or may not have been aware, would often lead to pregnancy.

Thus it was that the healthiest, most attractive women and the healthiest, strongest, most ambitious men tended to find each other, while the weaklings, the unhealthy and the lazy tended not to reproduce, and thus it was our species grew ever stronger and more clever with each passing generation. This is how our genes control us, the way genes control every animal on the planet. The genes (and memes, but that's another topic) are in charge.

This natural order did not cease to exist once we became civilized and began building SUVs. It is still very much present today, as exemplified by all the attractive, healthy females on the covers of magazines, the chiseled male models, the obsession with fitness and fatness, and in many other ways. One of the most interesting ways is in how promiscuity is viewed.

As I said above, male promiscuity is far more socially acceptable than female. Why is this? Have women been systematically repressed so that they feel their sexuality need to be hidden, as it were, under a bushel? Yes, of course. No argument there. The real question, though, is why that's been the case, almost universally. Why has a woman's expression of her sexuality been frowned upon? You guessed it: those millions of years of heritage we all carry round with us, in tiny troublemaking spirals.

Men, as we've established, are somewhat less than picky when it comes to choosing a mate. Certainly he'll start with the one he finds most attractive, but if she is unreceptive he'll continue through the rest, quite content, in the end, to sew his seed in whichever field is available, and then, the next day, move on to another. His task is simply to procreate as often as he can. Women, on the other hand, have a great deal more responsibility. With every partner comes the possibility of pregnancy, thus it is very important, from the point of view of the survival of the species, for her to choose wisely, and mate with the best candidate available. If women had the same mentality as men the very concept of "survival of the fittest" would collapse. It is incumbent upon them to find the strongest, healthiest, most powerful man, so that she may have a strong, healthy, powerful baby.

Women who behave the same way as men -- sexually, I mean -- those we call "sluts" and upon whom we pour scorn, are seen by our genetic mind as threatening this order, and thus threatening the survivability of the species itself. Genes care little for equality, only for producing better and stronger copies of themselves, and women who are less than careful in their choice of mates undermine this process. While we're mostly unaware of this genetic influence, it is always present in the dark, ancient areas of our minds. A promiscuous man, on the other hand, is simply fulfilling his destiny, which is to spawn as many copies of himself as possible.

None of this justifies the stigma we place upon women who behave like men, of course. It merely explains it. It's a reflection of reality rather than an attempt to excuse inequality. With the advent of modern contraception this stigma should no longer apply, since women can control with unprecendented precision by whom they become impregnated. For a woman to indulge in "casual sex" is no longer a threat to the species. But tell that to the genes we inherited from our contraception-less ancestors.

There, I had my turn. Now it's yours. Be gentle ;).