SEX POWER AND HUMAN RELATIONS: BIOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS
There are clear biological differences in the role men and women play in the process of reproduction. A woman can produce ten to twenty children in her lifetime, but hardly any woman can provide adequate care for all her children. A man can fertilize several women and if he impregnates a large number of women, he can produce an army. Thus polygamy was not determined by male superiority or other alleged differences between the mentality of men and women, but mainly by the difference in their respective roles in the reproductive process. Moreover, mothers and expectant mothers necessarily depend on their male partners for food and protection against enemies. So the subjugation of women by men was not a product of psychological differences, but rather a product of a particular socioeconomic system in which physical force was at a premium and child-bearing women could not provide food and shelter for themselves and their offspring.
Power thus became the symbol of masculinity, and prophets and poets praised the virtues of being a male. The Latin word virtus (virtue) is derived from vir meaning man. The Hebrew gibbor (hero) and g’vurah (courage) are derivatives of gever (male). In practically all languages homo (human being) is synonymous with an adult male. Wisdom, courage, leadership, and responsibility have been ascribed to men, despite the obvious fact that such a generalization flies in the face of evidence. Rationalization (distortion of reality in defense of self-esteem) is probably older than rational thinking, and cowardly, sheepish, submissive, and stupid men by far outnumber the brave, leading, self-assured, and wise men.
The innumerable cases of heroic women have been understated, partly silenced and often totally denied by male-dominated historiography. The very same virtues praised in men were discouraged and ridiculed in women: brave, aggressive, and wise women were branded as being pushy, arrogant, competitive, and therefore unfeminine. Cowardly men have been ridiculed as being “feminine,” and brave women have been ostrasized for being “masculine.” The owners of slaves have always preferred submissive, subservient, and dull slaves (Wolman).
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