A feminist viewpoint of evolutionary psychology: asks whether the study of mate choice could do with more female voices and ideas. The tone is relatively lighthearted, and intended to encourage debate in evolutionary psychology

1. Evolving for Girls
Or
The Trophy
Strikes Back

2. ““A mature trophy with signs ofA mature trophy with signs of
wear that are in keeping thewear that are in keeping the
mileage…”mileage…”
• Doreen Soutar
• Msc Psych; Open
• MSc Evolution of Language and
Cognition; Edinburgh
• Freelance Academic Writer
• Trained in psychotherapy and
advanced cynicism
• Level 70 Night Elf Druid

3. Evolving for Girls
This lecture looks at the way evolutionary
psychology describes female traits
It will assert that:
• The current models and theories of
evolutionary psychology are androcentric
• The current models could more usefully
defined as the male-centred half of evolution
• We are missing the female version

4. Evolutionary drivers
Mutation: random genetic change between generations
Genetic drift: prevalence levels in the population
Migration: fit with the environment
Recombination: tricksy Mendelian stuff with alleles
(gene pairs). Each gene has two options it can
choose from.
Selection:
1. Natural selection by interaction with the
environment
2. Sexual selection by relevant gender for
reproductive activities

5. Sexual Selection
Origin of Species
“…struggle between males for possession
of the females. The result is not death
to the unsuccessful competitor, but few
or no offspring.” (Darwin, 1859).
Descent of Man
“…when the males and females of any
animal have the same general habits of
life, but differ in structure, colour, or
ornament, such differences have been
mainly caused by sexual selection; that
is, individual males have had, in
successive generations, some slight
advantage over other males, in their
weapons, means of defence, or charms,
and have transmitted these advantages
to their male offspring.” (Darwin, 1871)

6. Evolutionary psychology is..
The subsection of evolutionary research
involved in the study of mate choice
Or
The study of traits or behaviours that
are sexually attractive to potential
mates
But
Based on the Origin of Species version
alone until turn of 21st
century.

7. In over 80% of species, males
bling and females booty call
According to Darwin in Descent of Man (1871) in over
80% of species, the females decide:
a) Which males will be selected
b) What is defined as attractive in a male
c) The direction of evolutionary drift
d) Development of traits and behaviours difficult to
explain in natural selection terms, e.g. wings, large
brains, eyes…
So evolutionary psychology is all
about…..

8. What women want

9. Not what women want
“The chief distinction in the
intellectual powers of the
two sexes is shown by
man’s attaining to a higher
eminence, in whatever he
takes up, than can women
– whether requiring deep
thought, reason, or
imagination, or merely the
use of the senses and
hands.”
Darwin (1871) Descent of Man

10. What is missing from this picture?

11. Oh, I know…I know….

12. Boobies!
Vaginas!
Clitorises!

13. Line!

14. What women want? Tosh
Traditional
Ostensibly
Sensible and
Historical view of
mate selection

15. Classic Tosh
The Superior Genetic Specimen
• Men with “good genes”
are sexually attractive
to women
• Sexually attractive
males have “good genes”
• When a woman selects a
male to reproduce with,
she does so on the
grounds of his superior
genetic material.
• He will pass on “good
genes” to their children

16. Let’s Play
Spot the Genome!

17. The Tosh of Genome
(…just south of the Great Glen?)
We don’t know the details of a potential mate’s genome
We don’t know the details of our own genome
Even if we did know our genomes, the recombination
process would mix genomes up in a potentially
unpredictable way
We are not completely sure what “good genes” are.

18. What is a genome anyway?
• The total amount of
genetic information in
the chromosomes of
an organism,
including its genes
and dna sequence …
the human genome is
made up of about
30,000 genes
• American Heritage Dictionary of Student Science,
Second Ed. (2014)

19. Motherless genetics
1. Most research effort is focused on male genes and what women
might find attractive in a potential baby-father. Attributes of a
potential baby-mother are less attractive as a source of
evolutionary psychological interest.
2. The female attributes that males tend to find most attractive
are difficult to relate to mothering ability. Often these
attributes are the negative of fertility, e.g. small waist; pert
breasts. However, healthy mothers is not a popular research
subject.
3. Male sexual selection of females is difficult to ground in
evolutionary advantage. Females cannot increase their
reproductive rate by attracting more males. In other
words, bling on a woman is like a turbo
button on a car without a turbo charger

20. Where is my genome
radar?
Mine doesn’t work properly
I don’t pick up males unconsciously
Well, not always
The attraction tends to wear off a bit
after a while with most of them
If I made the right choice all the time,
why are there abortions?

21. Should I stay or should I go?
Co-evolution
• Co-evolution describes how one gender evolves in relation to the other gender
• Evolutionary changes need to be suitable to the reproductive capacity of the other
gender
..the giggle stick needs to fit the flying fandango..
Two types of co-evolutionary theory
• Cooperative model: males and females evolve in ways that facilitate
reproduction.
• Competitive model: males and females are in an evolutionary arms race.
Both genders develop strategies that might allow them to reproduce their genetic
material but with the minimum of responsibility for the upbringing of the
offspring.

22. Should I stay or should I go?
Trivers 1972
Parental Investment Theory
Pregnancy is a bigger responsibility for the female
than it is for the male.
This is why females are “more choosy” than the males
As the male invests almost nothing in the reproductive
process, it would be to his best advantage to inseminate as many
women as he can.
(Trivers, 1972).

23. Should I stay or should I go:
Jared Diamond
Why is sex fun? (1997)
• Pregnancy is a risk of coitus, not the sole reason for doing it.
• Fun is the reason for doing it, even for women!
• Males and females are in an evolutionary arms raceto develop strategies to get
their genes into the next generation without being saddled with the
responsibility for the offspring.
That means that it is possible for the
control of mate selection to shift
between genders:
This is the ‘battle of the sexes’

24. The Wild Oats Hypothesis
• If a male is evolved to push to minimise his responsibility for childrearing and run
away to the next female, he is not evolved for monogamy.
Is there an agreed time between philandering males that
nobody will rape or pillage each other’s baby-mothers so that
they can all play coital musical chairs? Three til five on
Tuesdays, everybody?
• If females are evolved for the majority of the responsibility after a male runs away,
they are also naturally evolved to be able to care for and protect their offspring either
alone or with a kith or kin group.
Females can run away from males too, of course
• For every male that runs away from female A to female B there is another male
running away from female B to female A. Paternal identification becomes impossible.
Singing “I will if you will, if you will, so will I….”

25. The Language of Love?
The Mating Mind
Geoffrey Miller (2000)
• Sexual selection is a great theory after all
• Human females really should be doing the booty calling and males should be in possession
of the bling
.
That way, males can:
1. Claim ‘ownership’ of intelligence and elaborated language as male sexual selection bling
2. Claim that females find intelligence and elaborated language sexy
Aka
Intelligence and elaborated language are
human male bling
Human females booty called for them

26. Miller’s Bling
• Poetry
• Love songs
• Pillow talk
• Sweet nothings
• Law
• Religion
• Science
• Social mores
• Knowledge
• Academia
• Evolutionary psychology
theories

27. Violence is not the answer
New gynaecentric theories are

28. In other words…(sic)
Evolutionary psychology theories are forms of elaborated
language
They are the AK47s of a competitive
co-evolutionary arms race in humans
aka
Current evolutionary theories favour male dominance
over the reproductive process
Aka
Evolutionary psychology itself is a way of reinforcing
male control of reproduction through elaborated
language.

29. The Bliss Model: Bipedalism
• A move to bipedalism alters the
bodily positioning of genitals: male
genitals become more prominent;
female genitals become less
accessible.
• Female control of coitus increases
as males are less able to engage
in ‘guerrilla’ jumping from behind.
• Females addressed face to face
have the opportunity to rebuff
coital advances, potentially
targeting male genitals, which are
now in a rather more vulnerable
position.

30. The Bliss Model: The Flitoris
• Male orgasm remains associated with reproductive function of
ejaculation
• Female orgasmic and reproductive functions diverge
• Female orgasmic experience during reproductive activity is
optional whereas male orgasmic experience remains relatively
constant
• The divergent clitoris allows females to
experience orgasm without the risk of
pregnancy
• A prominent clitoris can be used to discriminate between
prospective male mates
• Females only need to engage in coitus with males when they (the
females) are broody.

31. Female Booty Calling
• Female manual stimulation can be tricky for males to
achieve
• (Rachel Maines (1999) The Technology of Orgasm:
‘Hysteria, the Vibrator, and Women’s Sexual
Satisfaction, Johns Hopkins University Press)
• Rachel! Rachel! Sing it with me now! I love you
Rachel!
• This difficulty can create a very effective sexual
selection test for females to use on males
• This test can increase the control of the reproductive
process by females
• In order to counter this difficulty, males need to find a
way to ace the test without being any good at it. To
cheat.

32. Male Bling
• Geoffrey Miller: elaborated language is a sexual
selection bling in males that was selected by females.
• As with eyes and wings, elaborated language
developed over time
• The initial conditions for the evolution of elaborated
language require the development of physical
equipment and acquisition of skills.
• Why did male linguistic skills increase, and how?
• That is:
• What kind of action could a male perform that
would result in his tongue being sexually
selected by a female?
• Using her flitoris?

33. Cunning Linguistics
• Males eventually bypass the
sexual selection test by
developing linguistic skills
• Females are persuaded to
engage in coitus on the
assumption that males would
be able to pass the test
• Males regain control over
reproduction by using
language to reduce the
importance of female orgasm
• The clitoris is demonised and
female intelligence and
elaborated language is
devalued.

34. If it was up to me…..
…..Hold on,
it is up to
me
Hoorah!

35. Thank you and Good Night
Evolutionary theories are “Just So” stories
Current evolutionary psychology theory
describes evolution from a male point of
view
Female evolution needs to be described
from female point of view
A combination of these two views would
provide a more complete and balanced
view of evolution

36. Get in contact!
Doreen Soutar
fb: Evolving for Girls
Website: Evolvingforgirls.wordpress.com
Email: Ygdish@gmail.com
A great sleeping aid!