Sexual Conflict

“Critically review evolutionary literature which addresses sex differences in both the perpetuation of and defence against antagonistic mating strategies. First, describe what sex differences (if any) exist, and then critique the representation of women in this body of literature.”

This essay critically reviews evolutionary literature around sex differences in the perpetuation and defence against antagonistic mating strategies. A critique of women’s representation will then be offered, which this paper argues is somewhat benevolently sexist. Some evidence suggests that women are more agentic in their exploitative mating strategies than typically depicted, and that exploitative female mating strategies may be underexplored due to a combination of moral typecasting and an asymmetry in the capacity to inflict harm that exists between the sexes.

“Treating different things the same can generate as much inequality as treating the same things differently” (Crenshaw, 1997).

Human mating is primarily viewed as a cooperative reproductive endeavour between the sexes, and contrary to much feminist theory, men are not united to compete intersexually against women. Instead, both men and women compete primarily intra-sexually (Buss, 2017). However, intrasexual competition for access to, and control of, the most valuable reproductive resource, often leads to restrictions on female sexual freedoms, ranging from vigilance to violence (Buss, 1988). Despite shared interdependent reproductive goals, the evolutionary interests of the sexes are…