Promiscuity: Difference between revisions
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Added a section on sexual antagonism and sexual conflict. Added to evidence against female promiscuity. Added to evidence for female promiscuity regarding the Nigerian Himba tribe (I'm somewhat skeptical of some of the research surrounding them, but curre
(Added a section on sexual antagonism and sexual conflict. Added to evidence against female promiscuity. Added to evidence for female promiscuity regarding the Nigerian Himba tribe (I'm somewhat skeptical of some of the research surrounding them, but curre) |
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Female promiscuity is also referred to as [[cock carousel]]. | Female promiscuity is also referred to as [[cock carousel]]. | ||
== The Effect of Sperm Competition on Reproductive success and Sexual Conflict == | |||
Fruit fly semen contains a chemical that acts as an anti-aphrodisiac on the female, so as to prevent her from mating with other males, as well as other chemicals that increase egg production rate in the females and other chemicals that incapacitate rival sperm.<ref>https://www.researchgate.net/publication/37713987_Promiscuity_An_Evolutionary_History_of_Sperm_Competition</ref> This is an example of the effects of sexual promiscuity on sexual conflict; we can in the instance of these fruit flies that males can evolve adaptations that increase their reproductive success at the expense of the female. In such instances females would evolve adaptions so as to defend herself against these harmful adaptations in males. In experiments were this co-evolution was halted in female fruit flies, males evolved sperm that became progressively more damaging to females.<ref>https://www.researchgate.net/publication/14577325_Sexually_Antagonistic_Male_Adaptation_Triggered_by_Experimental_Arrest_of_Female_Evolution</ref> Interestingly in experiments were monogamy was enforced in fruit flies (so as the reproductive interests of the male and female converged) the semen in males became decreasingly toxic to females and males became less agressive.<ref>https://www.researchgate.net/publication/13078846_Experimental_Removal_of_Sexual_Selection_Reverses_Intersexual_Antagonistic_Coevolution_and_Removes_a_Reproductive_Load?_sg=ikVRCHgbGfYIljl7vHPW1tskYZqq-sA4_oniK_iVvugEtVwCy0UTQHxM7E_3O_XfAedOFiCBgnomAHA</ref><ref>https://www.researchgate.net/publication/11963523_Males%27_evolutionary_response_to_experimental_removal_of_sexual_selection?_sg=sPIaQEaxUKzg2UflE40fTFtbnEhMfijBhw-v9QJztX3NvBJGJiROIwOL4GnNM5Gkqhx1nXenmxOOeqI</ref> Interestingly, reproductive output (thus reproductive success) was greater than what it was when sperm competition was present. This demonstrates that when lifelong sexual monogamy is implemented, the reproductive interests of males and females converge (as they share offspring) and behaviours that are developed in one sex that are harmful to the other are selected against. Similiarly, it would be in the interests of humans to enforce lifelong monogamy (serial monogamy through divorce and remarriage is essentially promiscuity vertically across time rather than horizontally in the present) so as to discourage the development harmful behaviours in either sex against the other (like rape). | |||
==Human female promiscuity== | ==Human female promiscuity== | ||
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*The simple shape shape of the Human Penis in comparison to promiscuous mating systems<ref>https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sexual-Selection-Origins-Mating-Systems/dp/0199559430</ref> | *The simple shape shape of the Human Penis in comparison to promiscuous mating systems<ref>https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sexual-Selection-Origins-Mating-Systems/dp/0199559430</ref> | ||
*We've evolved out of a polygynous mating system like the Gorilla; promiscuous mating systems mating systems in Chimpanzees only evolved after they split from our lineage as evidenced by genes on the Y chromosome involved in sperm production.<ref>https://www.researchgate.net/publication/46170901_Y_Chromosomal_Variation_Tracks_the_Evolution_of_Mating_Systems_in_Chimpanzee_and_Bonobo</ref><ref>https://www.researchgate.net/publication/6582334_The_Evolutionary_History_of_Human_and_Chimpanzee_Y-Chromosome_Gene_Loss</ref> | *We've evolved out of a polygynous mating system like the Gorilla; promiscuous mating systems mating systems in Chimpanzees only evolved after they split from our lineage as evidenced by genes on the Y chromosome involved in sperm production.<ref>https://www.researchgate.net/publication/46170901_Y_Chromosomal_Variation_Tracks_the_Evolution_of_Mating_Systems_in_Chimpanzee_and_Bonobo</ref><ref>https://www.researchgate.net/publication/6582334_The_Evolutionary_History_of_Human_and_Chimpanzee_Y-Chromosome_Gene_Loss</ref> | ||
*People in highly committed relationships tend to view attractive people as less attractive when compared to people that are single.<ref>https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232592351_Resisting_Temptation_Devaluation_of_Alternative_Partners_as_a_Means_of_Maintaining_Commitment_in_Close_Relationships?_sg=PUooFJX8oOlSqMXE4NP4r4wJnT1UZo7qA6-xqi47fPtNEDr1kGrwFbjvGreN5_mcEc57lAaUvyXsoOs</ref> Also as relationship length increases, partners tend to percieve their partners as more attractive than they actually are.<ref>https://www.researchgate.net/publication/44689730_Through_the_Eyes_of_Love_Reality_and_Illusion_in_Intimate_Relationships</ref> | |||
*The Oviduct in Human Females is much shorter and does not coil as much as more promiscuous primates (longer and more complex oviducts and selected for as a means to 'test' the sperm of the males so as to select the best sperm; a shorter oviduct would thus suggest little need for selecting superior sperm in males and thus implies sperm competition is minimal/non-existent)<ref>https://www.researchgate.net/publication/279429660_Sperm_Competition_in_Mammals?_sg=9a2A4optxFPMUBqhq0q4UYr_294PNUosOZDTCkZSdoVWtreBVXCU4qja2rcdiW5j_KVIs0XXlCswPcA</ref><ref>https://www.researchgate.net/publication/14810355_Coevolution_between_Male_Ejaculates_and_Female_Reproductive_Biology_in_Eutherian_Mammals</ref><ref>https://www.researchgate.net/publication/229958746_Mammalian_sperm_and_oviducts_are_sexually_selected_Evidence_for_co-evolution</ref> | *The Oviduct in Human Females is much shorter and does not coil as much as more promiscuous primates (longer and more complex oviducts and selected for as a means to 'test' the sperm of the males so as to select the best sperm; a shorter oviduct would thus suggest little need for selecting superior sperm in males and thus implies sperm competition is minimal/non-existent)<ref>https://www.researchgate.net/publication/279429660_Sperm_Competition_in_Mammals?_sg=9a2A4optxFPMUBqhq0q4UYr_294PNUosOZDTCkZSdoVWtreBVXCU4qja2rcdiW5j_KVIs0XXlCswPcA</ref><ref>https://www.researchgate.net/publication/14810355_Coevolution_between_Male_Ejaculates_and_Female_Reproductive_Biology_in_Eutherian_Mammals</ref><ref>https://www.researchgate.net/publication/229958746_Mammalian_sperm_and_oviducts_are_sexually_selected_Evidence_for_co-evolution</ref> | ||
*The relatively small midpiece of human sperm required (comparable to the Gorilla) which indicates a monogamous mating system as larger midpieces are found in promiscuous mating systems<ref>https://www.researchgate.net/publication/11432422_Sperm_competition_-_Motility_and_the_midpiece_in_primates?_sg=Iu7eEJDjjOdBrvQqWOSdwB5n71Gimq72v9sJRBeA_XLXlgFdgf0lXwaNPtCdZ3gbuqsa0zpKDzJ4qjI</ref><ref>https://www.researchgate.net/publication/231916755_Sperm_competition_and_the_evolution_of_sperm_midpiece_volume_in_mammals</ref>; specifically the human sperm midpiece has 15 mitochondria, much less than what can be found in the chimpanzee.<ref>https://www.researchgate.net/publication/18950923_Biology_of_primate_spermatozoa</ref><ref>https://www.researchgate.net/publication/312463724_The_mammalian_spermatozoon_Morphology_biochemistry_and_physiology<br /></ref> | *The relatively small midpiece of human sperm required (comparable to the Gorilla) which indicates a monogamous mating system as larger midpieces are found in promiscuous mating systems<ref>https://www.researchgate.net/publication/11432422_Sperm_competition_-_Motility_and_the_midpiece_in_primates?_sg=Iu7eEJDjjOdBrvQqWOSdwB5n71Gimq72v9sJRBeA_XLXlgFdgf0lXwaNPtCdZ3gbuqsa0zpKDzJ4qjI</ref><ref>https://www.researchgate.net/publication/231916755_Sperm_competition_and_the_evolution_of_sperm_midpiece_volume_in_mammals</ref>; specifically the human sperm midpiece has 15 mitochondria, much less than what can be found in the chimpanzee.<ref>https://www.researchgate.net/publication/18950923_Biology_of_primate_spermatozoa</ref><ref>https://www.researchgate.net/publication/312463724_The_mammalian_spermatozoon_Morphology_biochemistry_and_physiology<br /></ref> | ||
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*Cross-cultural concerns about female promiscuity, giving rise to slut-shaming gossip among females | *Cross-cultural concerns about female promiscuity, giving rise to slut-shaming gossip among females | ||
** However, we hardly find slut shaming in Chimpanzees and other promiscuous mating systems; thus, this slut-shaming would rather be a feature of a species with a strong female-male resource dependence and a monogamous mating system were women stand to lose much if their pair bonded male leaves them, or not marry and settle down with her, because there are other females whom will more readily give him sex. | **However, we hardly find slut shaming in Chimpanzees and other promiscuous mating systems; thus, this slut-shaming would rather be a feature of a species with a strong female-male resource dependence and a monogamous mating system were women stand to lose much if their pair bonded male leaves them, or not marry and settle down with her, because there are other females whom will more readily give him sex. | ||
* Women display a kind of Coolidge Effect in marriages sooner than men | *Women display a kind of Coolidge Effect in marriages sooner than men | ||
** However, considering that women need to be more invested in parenting, it seems certainly plausible that women get sexually bored quicker than men (if you're getting pregnant too often, then who takes care of the kids). | **However, considering that women need to be more invested in parenting, it seems certainly plausible that women get sexually bored quicker than men (if you're getting pregnant too often, then who takes care of the kids). | ||
* High incidence of mate poaching, mate switching, back-burners and relationship instability and a massive decline in long-term monogamous mating in contemporary "liberated" society. | *High incidence of mate poaching, mate switching, back-burners and relationship instability and a massive decline in long-term monogamous mating in contemporary "liberated" society. | ||
** This point is less about female promiscuity and is more evidence of female hypergamy, now that alpha males are more readily available and casual sex is more acceptable, the hypergamous instinct in females intensifies. Back up partners and mate switching is evidence that, when possible, a woman will trade her current partner out for a better mate. To argue for a promiscuous mating system, we need to show that a woman will still exhibit this behaviour even when paired with Alpha males; even chimpanzees will mate with lower status males from time to time in their promiscuous mating system despite the availability of Chads to have sex with females. As it doesn't seem plausible that most females will exhibit mate switching/poaching whilst with Alpha men, this cannot be used as evidence of female promiscuity in Humans. | **This point is less about female promiscuity and is more evidence of female hypergamy, now that alpha males are more readily available and casual sex is more acceptable, the hypergamous instinct in females intensifies. Back up partners and mate switching is evidence that, when possible, a woman will trade her current partner out for a better mate. To argue for a promiscuous mating system, we need to show that a woman will still exhibit this behaviour even when paired with Alpha males; even chimpanzees will mate with lower status males from time to time in their promiscuous mating system despite the availability of Chads to have sex with females. As it doesn't seem plausible that most females will exhibit mate switching/poaching whilst with Alpha men, this cannot be used as evidence of female promiscuity in Humans. | ||
*In the Himba tribe of Nigeria women who cuckold their husbands by having children with other men are more reproductively successful than those who don't (somewhere between 17%-48% of children are not sired by their fathers as compared to the low rate of extra pair paternity of 3% in western countries).<ref>https://www.researchgate.net/publication/51471838_Female_choice_and_extra-pair_paternity_in_a_traditional_human_population</ref> | |||
**Know whilsts this is certainly interisting to look at, it is unlikely that the conditions that allow women whom cuckold their husbands in the Himba tribe are widespread. For one, men are aware whose children are genetically their and those whom aren't (they are reffered to as 'omaka') and both women and men regularly engage in adultery (seemingly openly). The reason why the women whom cuckold their husbands enjoy greater greater reproductive success is two fold. Firstly favouring genetic children over omaka is genrally frowned upon, this is the exception rather than the rule when it comes to how men deal with children in humans. Almost no other culture in history would condemn a man for favouring his own children over other children; the only modern exception to this would be regressive France that criminilized paternity tests. Secondly the actual fathers of the omaka often give food to the women they've had children with. So the greater reproductive success essentially comes from the fact that women recieve resources from both their husbands and lovers and would thus have healthier children and lower mortality rates. Finally when a man dies, his sister inherits his possessions not his children; this essentially lowers the cost of him being cuckolded by other men as he invests less into his children. Interisting to note that most marriages in the Himba are arranged (the women have no say) and that 'love matches' (marriages were the women has married for love) experienced lower rates of extra-pair paternity. Now whilst it might be interisting to study, it would be fallacious to assume that simply because this one tribe that displays a chimpanzee like mating system therefore ancestral females were promiscuos, they were not. The genetic and morphological presented above opposing rampant female promiscuity is reflective of millions of years of evolution and is a ''far'' better indicator of what ancestral females were like. | |||
In summary, due to high female resource dependence and parental investment, and other factors mentioned, female promiscuity appears to be limited to a minority of women with a fast [[life history]] disposition or women who temporarily fall for feminist [[slay queen|dating advice]], and assertions about high female promiscuity may rather stem from an innate male sensitivity about paternity assurance and about losing [[status]] getting [[cuck]]ed or [[mog]]ged, rather than actually high promiscuity observed in modern human females. | In summary, due to high female resource dependence and parental investment, and other factors mentioned, female promiscuity appears to be limited to a minority of women with a fast [[life history]] disposition or women who temporarily fall for feminist [[slay queen|dating advice]], and assertions about high female promiscuity may rather stem from an innate male sensitivity about paternity assurance and about losing [[status]] getting [[cuck]]ed or [[mog]]ged, rather than actually high promiscuity observed in modern human females. | ||