Outstanding essay in the Wall Street Journal
A few days ago the Wall Street Journal published an excellent by Dr. Melvin Konner, a doctor and anthropologist who teaches at Emory University. The piece is about the trend of women increasingly taking leadership roles around the world and how Konner thinks (and I wholeheartedly agree) that this is a positive trend. Here's the link: https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-better-world-run-by-women-1425657910.Apparently the essay is adapted from his new book, which is called Women After All: Sex, Evolution and the End of Male Supremacy. . Can't wait to read it! :)
Here's a passage I particularly like from the essay: We must give up the illusion of sameness between the sexes. The mammalian body plan is basically female. The reason males exist is that a gene on the Y chromosome derails the basic genetic plan. It causes testes to form, and they produce testosterone while suppressing female development. Testosterone goes to the brain in late prenatal life and prepares the hypothalamus and amygdala for a lifetime of physical aggression and a kind of sexual drive that is detached from affection and throws caution to the winds. (I know, not all men, but way too many.) By contrast, almost all women, protected from that hormonal assault, have brains that take care of business without this kind of distracting and destructive delirium.
Fascinating stuff that makes a lot of sense to me. Definite food for thought here.