For some time she had watched his movements, appearing coyly in his haunts. And now, had it paid off? Doubtless, he was in love. His muscles were taut; he swooped through the air more like an eagle than a Greylag gander. The only problem was, it was not for her that he then landed in a flurry of quacks and wingbeats, or for her that he dashed off surprise attacks on his fellows. It was, rather, for another - for her preening rival across the Bavarian lake. Poor goose. Will she mate with the gander of her dreams? Or will she trail him for years, laying infertile egg clutches as proof of her faithfulness? Either outcome is possible in an animal world marked daily by scenes of courtship, spurning and love triumphant. And take note: these are not the imaginings of some Disney screen-16 writer. Decades ago Konrad Lorenz, a famed
Austrian naturalist, made detailed studies of
Greylags and afterwards showed no hesitation in using words like love, grief and even embarrassment to describe the behavior of these large, social birds. At the same time he did not forget that all romance - animal and human - is tied intimately to natural selection. Natural selection brought on the evolution of males and females during prehistoric epochs when environmental change was making life difficult for single-sex species such as bacteria and algae. Generally, these reproduced by splitting into identical copies of themselves. New generations were thus no better than old ones at surviving in an altered world. With the emergence of the sexes, however, youngsters acquired the qualities of two parents.
This meant that they were different from both - different and perhaps better at coping with tough problems of survival. At the same time, nature had to furnish a new set of instincts which would make
"parents" out of such unreflective entities as mollusks and jellyfish.. The peacock's splendid feathers, the firefly's flash, the humpback whale's resounding bellow - all are means these animals have evolved to obey nature's command: "Find a mate. Transmit your characteristics through time!"
But while most males would accept indiscriminate mating, females generally have more on their minds. In most species, after all, they take on reproduction's hardest chores such as carrying young, incubating eggs and tending newborns.
Often they can produce only a few young in a lifetime. (Given half a chance, most males would spawn thousands.) So it's no surprising that the ladies are choosy. They want to match their characteristics with those of a successful mate. He may flap his wings or join a hockey team, but somehow he must show that his offspring will not likely be last to eat or first in predatory jaws.
Throughout history, the story of womankind has evolved from struggles to achievements, while some aspects of the lives of women have never changed. Poet Dorianne Laux writes about the female condition, and women’s desire to be married and to have a home and children. She also seems to identify through her poetry with the idea that women tend to idealize the concept of marriage and settling down and she uses her poetry to reach out to the reader who may have similar idyllic views of marriage or the married lifestyle. Though Dorianne Laux’s poem “Bird” reads very simply, it is actually a metaphor for an aspect of this female condition.
Wilson (1986) argues that sexual attraction can be explained through an understanding of ‘survival efficiency’. By way of ‘bargaining’ between men and women, our relationships have become defined and characterised. It is in the ‘Interest’ of males to impregnate as many women as possible because he is capable of producing many sperm, whereas the women’s best chance of her genes surviving is to ensure the healthy survival of the relatively few offspring she is capable of mothering... ... middle of paper ... ... In Gender Learning, Pacific Grove, USA: Brooks Cole Ridley, M. (1993)
To begin with, it is an innate behavior when an animal has the instinct to know when to mate and to which species. This is known as a Courtship behavior. For example, I own a fish and a snail which live in the same tank. During the mating time, they both know not to mate with each other. They won’t mate because they aren’t the same species. When they find their correct mate, they may use dances, songs, colorful displays, or pheromones to attack their mate. Usually birds do a dance or song while peacocks show the colorful displays of their feathers. This r...
Social reproduction is the reproduction of cultural, human, and social capital in society. Therefore languages, traditions, cultural values, education, food security, and social circles are passed down from one generation to the next through Karl Mannheim’s concept of “fresh contact” and through society as a whole. Social reproduction is effective when social structures and equality within society are maintained. Inequality, poverty, and social changes that force society to adapt can impede the process of social reproduction causing what is known as a “crisis in social reproduction” (Wells, 2009). Born into Brothels demonstrates a crisis of social reproduction that negatively impacts the lives of children living in Sonagachi as a result of globalization, neoliberal policies, poverty, lack of adequate education and social structures to pass down capital, and the stigma of prostitution. Additionally, it shows the need for children to make economic contributions to their families that prevent them from leaving the brothel.
This chapter discusses The Evolutionary Perspective, Genetic Foundations, reproductive Challenges, and Heredity-Environment Interactions. Natural selection is the process by which those individuals of a species that are best adapted survive and reproduce. Darwin proposed that natural selection fuels evolution. In evolutionary theory, adaptive behavior is behavior that promotes the organism’s survival in a natural habitat. Evolutionary psychology holds that adaptation, reproduction, and “survival of the fittest” are important in shaping behavior. Ideas proposed by evolutionary developmental psychology include the view that an extended childhood period is needed to develop a large brain and learn the complexity of human social communities. According to Baltes, the benefits resulting from evolutionary selection decrease with age mainly because of a decline in reproductive fitness. At the same time, cultural needs increase. Like other theoretical approaches to development, evolutionary psychology has limitations. Bandura rejects “one-sided evolutionism” and argues for a bidirectional lin...
In order to understand the present lifestyles relating to different approaches and tactics applied by humans in mate choice preferences, there is the need to refer to Darwin (1859, 1871) evolutionary perspectives. Darwin (1871) sexual selection is the driving force for males and females reproductive quest for their genes survival. These driving forces have been classified into two categories as intra-sexual and intersexual mate selection.Intersexual selection is male sexual selection process whereby males compete with other males and the females choose the strongest as their ideal partner. Intra-sexual selection occurs when the male species fight among themselves and the strongest gain access to females for
make up the structure called a pistil. The enlarged base of a pistil is called
In Susan Bordo’s The Body and the Reproduction of Femininity, the cultural specific syndromes, that is the illness recognized elusively by a particular culture, of anorexia nervosa and agoraphobia amongst middle- to upper-class Euro-American women (McGarry 2017), are made akin with the framework of femininity and the—often destructive—pursuit of control. The modality that females employ to express their resistance, or paradoxical compliance, to the hegemonic ideals of gender that pervade these cultures alike are eerily perverse and demand our critical attention and inquiry.
It may seem obvious to some why people mate, however there are many facets to human mating. Psychology has shown that reasons for mating have gone beyond the scope of love and physical attractiveness. People may search for mates who resemble archetypical images of the opposite-sex parent, mates with characteristics that are either complementary or similar to one's own qualities, or mates with whom to make an exchange of valuable resources (Buss 238). Although these theories play a key role in understanding patterns in human mating preferences, evolutionary psychology and sexual selection theory provide more concrete frameworks for explaining human mating.
During the debate on March 15, 2000 which discussed new reproductive technologies (NRTS) issues were raised regarding the positive and negative effects of NRTS. Issues raised by the advocates of NRTS were surrounding infertility, homosexuality, disease, and cloning. All of these factors raised were concerning the moral rights of individuals who were unable to have children of their own without the help of NRTS. The debate continued by stating that denying individuals the right to utilize NRTS was immoral and in effect discriminated against them due to their “unfavorable'; situation. In contrast, the opposition against NRTS raised very negative concerns which included the commercialization of human reproduction, quality control, generating waste products, and the rights of the pre-embryo. These issues suggest that through NRTS children were being commodified and the rights of the pre-embryo were being ignored. The debate generally focused on the rights of the individual, man or woman, versus the rights of the unborn child.
Meiosis is a specialized form of nuclear division in which there two successive nuclear divisions (meiosis I and II) without any chromosome replication between them. Each division can be divided into 4 phases similar to those of mitosis (pro-, meta-, ana- and telophase). Meiosis occurs during the formation of gametes in animals.
Since 1939 the traits that males and females desire when choosing a mate of the opposite gender has remained relatively unchanged. Four characteristics have remained at the top of the list since this study was originally conducted in 1939 these characteristics are; dependable character, emotional stability/maturity; mutual attraction/love; and a pleasing disposition (Henery, Helm, & Cruz, 2103). For this study the researchers duplicated a study that has been replicated several times since the initial study in 1939. The researchers found similar results to those found in the previous studies(s), with one major difference pleasing disposition had dropped slightly. The researchers found that dependable character, emotional stability and mutual
When asked to associate characteristics with the female or male sex, many equate reproduction and child-rearing with females because they are the ones that are biologically capable of carrying and giving birth to a child. Howe...
Cloning humans is a threat to our society. It presents a vast number of problems that arise with each new discovery. The first is the decrease in distinct genetic make-up. Cloning also brings up many ethical points dealing with creation and psychological well being of clones. Cloning is such a new area of study that it requires a large amount of money and offers a lot of room for mistakes.
young males themselves who feel a certain masculine instinct to live up to. Why the