Why don't we act like the opposite sex?

• Author: Layng, Anthony

SOCIAL SCIENTISTS long have been aware of the distinctive sex roles characteristic of tribal societies around the world, but many are reluctant to conclude that this is anything other than learned behavior. Most American cultural anthropologists have assumed that sex roles are largely arbitrary. This is illustrated by citing examples characteristic of males in one population and females in another--as in the American Southwest, where Navajo weavers are women and Hopi weavers are men.

To suggest that female roles are determined to any significant degree by biological factors invites an implication that the lower social status of women found in most societies also might be attributed to innate differences between the sexes, that "anatomy is destiny. " American anthropologists have been influenced by social liberalism to such an extent that any scholarly proponent of biological determinism (racism, sexism, etc.) is likely to be challenged immediately. Their arguments against racism have pointed out that there is no reliable correlation between race and social behavior; people of the same race may have sharply contrasting cultures; and a given population can alter its culture dramatically without, presumably, altering its genes. For instance, the Aztecs and Apache were of the same race, but the former evolved a complex state civilization while the latter remained primitive nomads. The post-World War II Japanese have shown us how much a homogeneous racial population can change its culture in a very short time.

When it comes to sexism--the belief that the distinctive behavior of females and males is influenced significantly by their differing physiology--ethnographic challenges are less convincing. One major difficulty is the fact that there are no societies where men and women act alike. Even where conscious attempts have been made to eliminate behavioral differences between the sexes, distinctions remain. A study of American communes in the 1970s found that none have "come anywhere near succeeding in abolishing sex-role distinctions, although a number ... have made this their highest ideological priority."

Another reason why cross-cultural comparisons have been relatively ineffectual in undermining sexist thinking is that, regardless of the great variability of sex roles from one society to another, there are certain behavior patterns and attitudes that appear to be the same in both traditional and modern societies. For example: * Women generally prefer older men as mates, while most males prefer younger females. * In courtship and mating behavior, most men are more sexually aggressive and most women are more coy. * Males are more inclined to delay marriage. * Men are more likely to seek a variety of mates. * Women tend to be more tolerant of adulterous mates. * Females are more likely to be domestic and nurturing.

In some societies, women prefer men who are considerably older than themselves; in others, the age discrepancy is slight. What is constant is that, on average, the male in each couple is older. Unlike bands of apes, where females are the usual initiators of copulation, "presenting" themselves to males, it is far more common for men...