{"id":14777,"date":"2018-07-03T12:36:41","date_gmt":"2018-07-03T08:36:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/?p=14777"},"modified":"2018-07-03T12:37:14","modified_gmt":"2018-07-03T08:37:14","slug":"women-show-sexual-preference-for-tall-dominant-men-so-is-gender-inequality-inevitable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/women-show-sexual-preference-for-tall-dominant-men-so-is-gender-inequality-inevitable\/","title":{"rendered":"Women show sexual preference for tall, dominant men \u2013 so is gender inequality inevitable?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The fact that women choose male partners who can dominate them does not mean taht women want to be dominated <\/span><\/h5>\n

<\/p>\n

The old clich\u00e9 tells us the most desirable men are \u201ctall, dark, and handsome\u201d \u2013 and\u00a0scientific research\u00a0confirms that heterosexual women tend to prefer partners who are taller than them.<\/p>\n

One\u00a0study\u00a0found that, on average, women\u2019s satisfaction with their partner\u2019s actual height was greatest when he was 21cm taller than themselves. Conversely, men\u2019s satisfaction was greatest with a woman who was 8cm shorter than them. Not only do women want taller men; they seem to favour a bigger height difference than men.<\/p>\n

Women\u2019s choice of taller men might indicate a preference for men who are more dominant, which may be due to the way that biological evolution has shaped our brains. This in turn may have shaped our culture, and the norms that reinforce the expectation that a man should be taller than his female partner.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, we can change our culture.<\/p>\n

The animal \u2018kingdom\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sexual dimorphism\u00a0\u2013 where one sex is substantially larger or otherwise different in appearance to the other \u2013 is common among animals.<\/p>\n

In some species \u2013 such as\u00a0spiders, including the\u00a0Australian red back\u00a0\u2013 the female is larger than the male.<\/p>\n

But in mammals, including us humans, it is\u00a0often the male\u00a0who is larger.<\/p>\n

Among our closest living relatives \u2013 the chimpanzee, gorilla and orangutan \u2013 males are\u00a0bigger than females. They are physically stronger, and have larger, sharper canine teeth.<\/p>\n

While such characteristics benefit males in competition with one another, they also enable them to\u00a0physically and sexually dominate\u00a0females.<\/p>\n

Women\u2019s preference for dominant men<\/strong><\/p>\n

Besides the preference for height, women also tend to show a preference for indicators of dominance in men, such as\u00a0physical strength and masculine facial features. The controversial psychologist\u00a0Jordan Peterson\u00a0goes as far as claiming that\u00a0women hate harmless men.<\/p>\n

Large, dominant men can offer greater protection to their partners and children from other men, and were likely to have been better providers of food and other resources throughout our evolutionary history. This suggests that it is adaptive, in evolutionary terms, for women to be attracted to such men and to\u00a0choose them as partners.<\/p>\n

Research supporting this argument has found that women with a higher fear of crime are more likely to\u00a0prefer physically formidable and dominant males. In addition, women who score lower on dominance show a\u00a0stronger preference for taller men.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the preference for larger and more dominant men comes with a cost. Such men, while they might protect their partners from other men, also present the risk of turning their aggression onto their partners.<\/p>\n

By choosing larger and more dominant men, women potentially become more vulnerable to physical and sexual domination by their partner. Crime statistics show that the\u00a0majority of intimate partner murder victims are female.<\/p>\n

Does our biology make us inherently sexist?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Evolution by natural selection has no predetermined purpose, and doesn\u2019t work towards any goal. It simply describes how physical and psychological characteristics become more common if they help an organism pass on its genes.<\/p>\n

The desire in females for tall, dominant males is just likely to have been a successful way of propagating genes, even before\u00a0Homo sapiens<\/em>\u00a0evolved.<\/p>\n

Although we are not blind to the benefits of size, these sexual and romantic preferences are not determined by conscious choice, nor are they always rational or desirable. We don\u2019t choose what we find attractive, much like all other animals whose brains are also the products of evolution.<\/p>\n

So the fact that women prefer male partners who can \u2013 and often do \u2013 dominate them does not mean that women want to be dominated. The genetic payoff over evolutionary time for producing offspring with such men has simply been greater than any genetic costs of being dominated by them. Women risk aggression from their partners as part of a strategy to counteract the threat of violence from other men.<\/p>\n

Growing up<\/strong><\/p>\n

While our biologically based preferences are largely outside our conscious control, they do not rigidly determine our behaviour or render us incapable of acting otherwise. We can resist our impulses and urges, and make reasoned choices about how we behave.<\/p>\n

Our biology shapes our culture, and culture does its part to reinforce our biology. Even in the modern world we continue to perpetuate cultural norms that place value on greater height and dominance in men, and on slightness and submission in women.<\/p>\n

But this is not \u201cjust culture\u201d, as many might argue. Females\u2019 near-universal preference for large, dominant males suggests that culture is a co-conspirator, rather than the cause, of this process.<\/p>\n

And culture is not fixed \u2013 as shown by the progress that society has\u00a0already made towards gender equality. We can challenge the cultural norms that undermine those who don\u2019t adhere to the status quo. We can foster values that purposefully compensate for the flaws in our nature. This might lead to a more equal society, where women won\u2019t even feel they need protecting.<\/p>\n

But we need to critically examine our minds to understand ourselves and gain the power to escape our biology\u2019s grip on us. Perhaps then, the things that aren\u2019t necessarily good for us will cease to be so seductive.<\/p>\n

Beatrice Alba<\/strong><\/span>
\n<\/span>Research Fellow, Australian Research <\/span>
\nCentre in Sex, Health and Society, <\/span>
\nLa Trobe University<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

* Published in print edition on 29 June 2018<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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