Why Sex Matters

Bobbi S. Low is professor of conservation ecology at the School of Natural Resources and Environment at the University of Michigan, where she is also a faculty associate at several centers within the Institute for Social Research. She is coauthor of An Introduction to Methods and Models in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology, among other books, and is the recipient of undergraduate and graduate teaching awards.

Preface xi 1Introduction 1 Vampire Stories and Beyond 2 Explaining Behavior without Folklore 4 Kinds of "Why" Questions 6 Simple Rules, Complex Outcomes 8 Humans as Critters 8 2Racing the Red Queen: Selfish Genes and Their Strategies 14 Whose Genes Count, and Why? Kin Selection 17 Summing Up the Basics: Assumptions and Objections 21 Novel Evolutionary Environments: Can the Principles Still Hold? 24 More than Ants or Peacocks: Lifetimes, Culture, Ecology, and Variation 26 3The Ecology of Sex Differences 28 Sex and Strategies 30 The Ecology of Being Male and Female 35 Mating Effort 38 Parental Effort 42 Variance in Reproductive Success: Mating versus Parental Strategists 43 4Sex, Status, and Reproduction among the Apes 47 The Ecology of Dominance and Reproductive Success in Primates 48 Ecological Aspects of Mating Systems 50 Sex, Resources, and the Ecology of Human Reproduction 51 The Ecology of Human Mating Systems 59 The Ecology of Monogamy and Polyandry 66 5Sex, Resources, Appearance, and Mate Choice 69 Beauty, Resources, and Mate Choice 70 What Men and Women Want 71 Influences on Mate Choice in Modern Western Societies 75 Signals of Desirability and Their Manipulation 77 Who Can Choose? 80 6Sex, Resources, and Human Lifetimes 82 Starting Out: Resource Striving in the Womb 85 Sex Differences in Development 86 What's a Mother to Do? Optimizing Maternal Effort among Offspring 87 Conflicts of Interest: Abortion, Infanticide, Abandonment, Neglect 88 Sex Differences in Reproductive Lifetimes 92 Sex Differences in Senescence 99 7Sex and Resource Ecology in Traditional Cultures 104 Sexual Divisions of Labor 104 Sex and Control of Resources 106 Men, Women, and Resources in Traditional and Historical Cultures 106 8Sex, Resources, and Fertility in Transition 116 Germany in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries 117 Nineteenth-Century Sweden 118 Sex, Resources, and Fertility in Transition 132 Fertility Transitions: What, If Anything, Do They Mean? 133 9Nice Guys Can Win-In Social Species, Anyway 135 Are We Lemmings? A Cautionary Tale 135 When and Why Do We Cooperate Most Easily? 136 Simple Strategies for Winning Games 138 Reciprocity and Its Relatives 141 Adding a Little Complexity 142 The "Group Selection" Naming Muddle 143 Altruists or Good Neighbors? 150 Cooperation and Free Riders 151 10Conflicts, Culture, and Natural Selection 152 Cooperation, Competition, and Groups 153 Working Out Our Conflicts: Moral Systems and Group Life 153 I'm Committed, Are You? The Deception and Manipulation Problems 157 Intertwining Cultural and Natural Selection 157 Logically Inept, Socially Adept: The Social Contexts of Intelligence 165 11Sex and Complex Coalitions 170 Coalitions, Resources, and Reproduction 172 Coalitions and the Ecology of Trust 180 Sex and Human Coalitions 181 12Politics and Reproductive Competition 185 Men, Women, and Politics Cross-Culturally 187 Women in Politics: When Did It Pay? 195 13Sex, Resources, and Early Warfare 198 Resources and Conflict 199 Why Women Warriors Are Rare 201 War: Runaway Sexual Selection? 202 Other Biological Approaches to Understanding War 203 The Ecology of War: Uncertainty and Payoffs 204 Intergroup Conflict in Other Species 205 Conflict in Preindustrial Societies 208 14Societal Complexity and the Ecology of War 212 Greek Hoplites: Early "Western" Warriors? 215 The Ecology of Renaissance War 215 The Behavioral Ecology of Modern War 217 Women and Disadvantaged Men in War 220 War and Reproductive Success Today 221 Proximate and Ultimate Causes of War: Evolutionary Novelty 222 15Wealth, Fertility, and the Environment in Future Tense 225 Wealth, Fertility, and Consumption Today: Empirical Data 231 How Our Evolved Tendencies Affect Our Future 237 The Behavioral Ecology of Humans and Other Species Interact 240 What's Missing in Current Strategies? 244 Can New Strategies and Tactics Help? 248 An Evolutionary Bottom Line: Can We Use What We Know? 249 Notes 253 Glossary 319 References 329 Index 399