Evolutionary psychology views gender segregation as ancestrally programmed. The ancestral origin of differences in gender roles is analyzed in terms of mate preferences, reproductive strategies, parental investment in offspring, and the aggressive nature of males. From this viewpoint, modern gender differences originated from successful ancestral adaptation to the diverse reproductive anxiety faced by men and women. Men contributed less to their offspring’s likelihood of survival so they required multiple partners and were less selective with whom to mate. In addition, uncertainty of paternity raised the risk of investing resources in children who were not their own. In contrast, women have to carry the fetus and care for their offspring years after their birth. Women adapted to their superior obligatory role in reproduction and parenting by preferring less sexual partners and favoring those who would be good lasting providers of the basic requirements of life for themselves and their offspring. Men, on the other hand, attempted to maximize the chances of paternity by reproducing with numerous young and physically striking females. Because of their size and strength advantage, males resolved troubles arising from conflicting reproductive interests by exercising aggressive dominance over females. According to evolutionary psychology, many current gender differences, such as the number …show more content…
Cultural scholars do not dispute biological and interpersonal factors, but they assume that they are qualified by the influence of nature. One of the approaches is anthropology which argues that when confronted with different vales and ways of doing things in a foreign culture, you see the norm of your own society in a clearer light. This holds true of gender. Our views of gender are clarified by considering what it means else where. An example of how cultural attributes vary is from a group village in the Dominican Republic where it is common for males to be born with undescended testes an undeveloped penis but because this condition is common the society doesn’t regard it as abnormal. Instead, boys born with this condition are raise as “conditional girls”. They wear dresses and are treated as girls. At puberty, a secondary tide of androgens causes the testes to descend, the penis to grow, and muscle and hair typical of males to appear at which point the child is considered a boy and treated as a male. Anthropology holds that whatever genetic influences exist, the society we are socialized with is the one that shapes our genetic endowments. Other human cultures are not the only sources of insight into our own culture’s views of normal and appropriate behavior for men and women. In my view, gender development is determined by the curture upheld in ones area of growth. When I was