Male aggression against women: An evolutionary perspective

Barbara Smuts

Human Nature, vol. 3, no. 1, 1992, pp. 1–44

Abstract

Male aggression against females in primates, including humans, oftento control female sexuality to the male’s reproductive advantage.comparative, evolutionary perspective is used to generate severalto help to explain cross-cultural variation in the frequency ofaggression against women. Variables considered include protectionwomen by kin, male–male alliances and male strategies for guardingand obtaining adulterous matings, and male resource control. Thebetween male aggression against women and gender ideologies,domination of women, and female sexuality are also considered.

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Although an evolutionary analysis assumes that male aggression against women reflects selection pressures operating during our species’ evolutionary history, it in no way implies that male domination of women is genetically determined, or that frequent male aggression toward women is an immutable feature of human nature. In some societies male aggressive coercion of women is very rare, and even in societies with frequent male aggression toward women, some men do not show these behaviors. Thus, the challenge is to identify the situational factors that predispose members of a particular society toward or away from the use of sexual aggression. [A]n evolutionary frame- work can be very useful in this regard.

aggression · evolution
pp. 2-3