Читать книгу The Complete Parenting Collection - Steve Biddulph, Steve Biddulph - Страница 44

Evolution is constantly changing the shape of all living creatures. For instance, early humans had huge jaws and teeth for chewing raw food. But when fires and cooking were discovered, over many generations our jaws and teeth became smaller because our food was softer to chew. If we have a few thousand years of eating fast food, we may end up chinless altogether!

Some gender differences are obvious in human beings – size, hairiness, and so on. But the main differences are the hidden ones. These came about through taking very different roles for a very large part of our history. Hunter-gatherer societies divided the work very much along gender lines. For 99 percent of human history, the women mostly gathered, and the men mostly hunted.

Hunting was a specialised activity. It required quick team action, sudden and strong muscular activity in short bursts, and you had to be very single-minded. Once the chase was on, there was no time for discussion. Someone was in charge, and you did what you were told – or got gored or eaten by a large animal.

The women’s work of gathering seeds, roots and insects was different. It allowed time for discussion, required finger dexterity and sensitivity, and included the care of babies and children. As a result, human females have finger sensitivity several times greater than males. The women’s work required caution, constancy and attention to detail – whereas hunting required a certain degree of recklessness, or even self-sacrifice. Women’s bodies became generally smaller but better able to persist and endure. Men’s bodies were better at rapid bursts of strength but were more likely to be laid low by a dose of flu or an ingrown toenail! The differences were not great, and some role flexibility probably helped. So we ended up a species with slight but significant differences between male and female bodies and brains.

The hunter-gatherer tradition continues to have a problematic legacy. In the developing world (where many people still live by agriculture), the men often do not work as hard as the women. Presumably they are waiting to fight someone or hunt something!