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Whilst most of the things we do with
our spouses or partners seem very normal to us if we take a truly objective
view in relation to other animal’s behaviour, it seems we over-complicate reproduction
to such an extent that, as a species, we have even developed methods and
ideologies to allow individuals to opt out on reproduction all together.
It is
both our pre mating behaviour and copulation that seem to produce perplexing
results. Once humans reach sexual maturity most of their time and energy is
spent on being appealing for a potential mate. Jobs, houses, cars, clothes,
perfumes, make-up and most other items we possess are all designed to be
appealing towards a mate. The strangest part of this behaviour is Humans spend
most of their lives behaving this way but then pretend that it is not for the purpose of
reproduction.
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Sexual
selection is one of the main driving forces in mate choice with humans (Miller,
2000). Power and money seem to be an important part of mate selection for
females suggesting the more money a male makes the better he can provide and a
female’s youth and appearance seem important for male mate choice, suggesting
youth indicates a higher chance of fertility (Buss, 1989).
Of course is not always the case
and as particular socio-demographics would show males don't always need large
resources to produce offspring and females don't always need youth for mate
selection.
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The other unusual characteristic Humans
possess is copulation. Despite males not having detachable phallus or females the
ability to select or reject suitable semen, Humans have a whole bag of strange behaviours
when it comes to copulation. Each individual has their own preference in the
way copulation occurs including monogamy, bisexuality, homosexuality, violence and even multiple mating at one time (Schmitt, 2005). Some
individuals may use one of these methods throughout its life span while others
may choose multiple behaviours with in its life.
Copulation is such a driving
force for humans it has overpowered instinctive reproduction all together. With
the use of temporary and permanent contraception, Humans have evolved
such behaviours that reproduction is now a by-product of
copulation rather than the intended outcome.
References:
Buss, D.M. 1989,
"Sex differences in human mate preferences: Evolutionary hypotheses tested
in 37 cultures", Behavioral and Brain Sciences, vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 1-14.
Schmitt, D.P. 2005,
"Sociosexuality from Argentina to Zimbabwe: A 48-nation study of sex,
culture, and strategies of human mating", Behavioral and Brain Sciences,
vol. 28, no. 2, pp. 247-275.
Miller, G.F. 2000,
The mating mind: how sexual choice shaped the evolution of human nature, Doubleday,
New York.
Your discussion on human mate selection seems to be primarily focusing on humans from industrialised civilisations as your example. I imagine things would differ somewhat in earlier stage civilisations and even more so in hunter-gatherer cultures. The interesting thing about being sapient tool using beings is that it allows us to undergo huge cultural and social changes that influence our behaviour, even if we remain biologically the same.
ReplyDeleteOn your comment "Each individual has their own preference in the way copulation occurs including monogamy, bisexuality, homosexuality, violence and even multiple mating at one time" I'm not really sure what point you are trying to make. Every single one of these things you mentioned also occurs in numerous different non-human animals. So how exactly are any of them relevant to humans specifically?
Thanks for introducing me to some very strange behaviours indeed!
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