Evolution, is it?

[elettaria]

It's a few months old, but I just came across this article while browsing the BBC. It's about some research done which allegedly shows that men feel more comfortable with one-night stands, in general, than women do. This I think is probably true. The researchers then go on to say that this is an example of evolution in action. Erm, what? This is an example of the sexual double standard in action via internalised guilt and so forth, and that's a product of social conditioning. There will be biological and evolutionary elements to social conditioning about sexuality, yes, for instance the inescapable fact that it's women who are at risk of pregnancy, but overall we're talking about a cultural construct. To say that this is evolutionary is about as logical as declaring that, say, sexual cruising grounds in cities appear in certain places for ancient geological reasons. Gay men are rambling over Carlton Hill with an eye to a hook-up? Ah yes, that'll be because it's a defunct volcano, and we all know what those do to men's sex drives in that old, primitive way.

The thing I'm wondering, and I'm looking at the scientists on my f-list in particular, is how far such attempts to find biological or evolutionary reasons for something which is actually social/cultural are the norm, particularly where gender is concerned. You know, "women are hard-wired to like pink" and so on. Any thoughts?