Long-term and Short-term Mating Strategies: Domain #2 of Male-Female Difference

Long-term and Short-term Mating Strategies: Domain #2 of Male-Female Difference

by | Sep 22, 2020 | Biological Difference, Dating & Mating Economy, Sexuality

“…to an extraordinary degree, the predilections of the investing sex —females, determine the direction in which the species will evolve. For it is the female who is the ultimate arbiter of when she mates and how often and with whom.” ~Sarah Blaffer Hrdy, The Women That Never Evolved, 1981

Would You Go to Bed With Me?

In a study on a college campus, confederate men walked up to women, and confederate women walked up to men and said:

“Hi, I’ve been noticing you around town lately and I find you very attractive.”

Then they (eventually) asked:

“Would you go to bed with me tonight?”

All the women said “no,” and were offended, insulted, and just puzzled by the request to go to bed.

Seventy-five percent of the men said “yes.” Many of the men who declined the offer were apologetic, citing previous commitments.

This is an often-cited series of experiments in social and evolutionary psychology conducted by Russell Clark & Elaine Hatfield. These experiments were replicated in France with the same results.

How Receptive are Men versus Women to Sexual Invitations?

In a study by Buss and Schmitt (1993), college men and women rated how likely they were to consent to sex with someone they viewed as desirable if they had known them for only an hour, a day, a week, a month, six months, a year, two years, or five years. Both men and women said they would probably have sex after knowing a desirable potential mate for five years. At every shorter interval, men exceeded women in the reported likelihood of having sex. After knowing someone for only one week, men were positive about consenting to sex.

Women Unlikely to Consent to Sex

Women, in sharp contrast, were highly unlikely to consent to sex. Men were only slightly disinclined to having sex with someone they had known for only one hour; for women, sex after one hour was a virtual impossibility.

Long and Short-term Mating Strategies — Differences Between Men and Women

The predominant theory in evolutionary psychology suggests humans have both long-term and short-term mating strategies. These studies unmask the differences between men and women in their mating strategies.

Second Domain of Differences in Sexual Psychology and Response

This is the second in a series of posts that explain the domains (see Appendix) of difference between men and women in their sexual psychology and response. Tendencies related to short and long-term mating strategies apply to the general population of male and female heterosexuals but do not predict the unique sexuality of a particular man or women. (See introduction to the series: Male-Female Differences in Sexual Psychology and Response.)

This post will explore the following differences:

  1. General psychological factors related to mating strategies
  2. Objectives, costs, and benefits of short-term and long-term mating strategies for men and women
  3. Relative importance of trait preferences for each strategy along three dimensions: physical attractiveness, resources, and character, illustrated by Venn diagrams.
At-a-Glance Summary of this Post
  •  A long-term mating strategy is essentially rooted in commitment and monogamy.
  • A short-term mating strategy allows or prefers casual sex with more than one partner.
  • Women’s predominant mating strategy is long-term vs. short-term by a wide margin.
  • Men’s predominant mating strategy is short-term but their long-term strategy is almost equal for reasons also tied to evolutionary benefits.
  • The human mating economy is primarily fueled (implicitly) by the intersection of men’s short-term mating strategy and women’s long-term mating strategy.
  • Men’s short-term mating strategy is emboldened by their perceived mate value.
  • Women’s short-term strategy is correlated with low self-esteem.
  • Lower mate value men benefit most from a long-term strategy.
  • High mate value women (commonly with high self-esteem) choose a long-term strategy and benefit most from that strategy.
  • Men have lower standards for short-term mates, requiring almost no traits other than physical attractiveness.
  • Women’s short-term strategy emphasizes physical stature of the man, with some concern for resources and character.
  • Women’s short-term strategy, while secondary, reveals complex motivations and is used to secure resources, access better genes, switch mates, and sometimes secure a long-term partner.
  • Men’s short-term strategy gives great emphasis to physical attractiveness, has a small concern for character, and no concern for resources.
  • Men’s long-term mating strategy has character requirements, some resource considerations, and an emphasis on physical attractiveness.
  • Women’s long-term strategy has a great need for resources and character, with physical attractiveness prioritized in a third position. Resources and character are often subject to trade-offs in mate selection.
  • Long-term and short-term mating strategies operate as concurrent functions (like dual processing switches) sensitive to context and environmental conditions.
  • Female choice in mate selection is the most powerful force on the planet – determining the mating strategies of both sexes.
General Sex Differences in Long-term and Short-term Mating Strategies

The above studies underscore several differences in male-female sexual psychology and response, as noted in: Dynamics in the Mating Economy: Domain #1 of Male-Female Difference.

  • Women have the psychology of choice and an abundance of sexual attention during their reproductive years; men mostly do not have choice or an abundance of mating opportunities.
  • Men (mostly) have the psychology of sexual scarcity.
  • Women have the psychology of caution and fear — sexual inhibition and “brakes” on sexual activity and the experience of risk. Women fear being physically hurt, left to fend on their own with a child, or suffering reputational damage.
  • Women are prone to have regret or guilt about what they did in the sexual and mating realm.
  • Men are prone to have guilt and regret about what they did not do.
  • Men fear being humiliated and rejected.
  • Men are driven by a spontaneous, initiating sexual psychology (spontaneous desire) and women are characterized by a cautionary, “response desire.”

Mating Strategies Introduction

“Today’s dating scene has become a global uncontrolled experiment in competing mating strategies. Men and women are locked in a run-away arms race of male sexual escalation tactics vs. female commitment escalation tactics. Science-minded singles have a new self-consciousness as fitness displayers, mate choosers, gene replicators, and social primates.” ~ Evolutionary Psychologist, Geoffrey Miller (YouTube – 2019)

Long-term Mating Strategies

A long-term mating strategy for men involves attracting and securing a mate who will provide sexual fidelity. A long-term mating strategy for women seeks sexual fidelity and provision of resources and protection of children over time. Women have predominantly a long-term mating strategy (and sex “drive”) that most often seeks a single-sex partner who is committed to her and the potential offspring that might result from their mating. A women’s long-term strategy creates caution and selectivity in accepting male advances. The desired benefits of a woman’s long-term strategy influence male sexual access and thus much of male behavior. (See Mate Selection Science.)

Short-term Mating Strategies

A short-term mating strategy attempts to maximize immediate sexual access and sexual partners. Men have evolved with mostly a short-term-mating strategy (and sex “drive”) but also employ a long-term strategy for several evolutionary advantages. A man’s short-term mating strategy fuels desire for contact with women for any possible chance of a romantic or sexual encounter. Although much less predominant, a woman’s short-term mating strategy may include a complex set of motivations. (See Why Women Have Sex.)

Dual Processing Switches

Long-term and short-term strategies for men and women operate as concurrent functions sensitive to context and environmental conditions. They are not binary operations but more like dual processing switches with a range or “volume” on each at any moment in time. They may function in parallel like a thermostat, modulating the influence of other mode to keep a particular sexual personality in balance or at its “set” point. Sexual strategies by men and women are influenced by age and especially a woman’s fertility window.

Big Cojones — Evidence of Short-term mating

Evidence of short-term mating is seen by the size of human male testes; they are larger than the highly monogamous gorillas and orangutans, but smaller than the more promiscuous baboons, bonobos, and common chimpanzees. Bigger testes mean more sperm competition and more short-term mating.

Sperm Volume

Also, sperm volume increases related to the amount of time a couple has been apart since their last encounter. This increase in sperm insemination is precisely what is expected if humans had an ancestral history of casual sex and marital infidelity. The fact that men carry a physiological mechanism that elevates sperm count when their wives may have had opportunities to be unfaithful points to an evolutionary history in which humans had extramarital affairs at least some of the time.

 
“Collision” of Strategies

The human mating economy is primarily fueled (implicitly) by the intersection of men’s short-term mating strategy and women’s long-term mating strategy (See Human Mating Strategies). This “collision” of a man’s short-term mating strategy and a woman’s long-term mating strategy continues to shape gender-specific sexual behavior in modern times and causes more selectivity, caution, and different sexual responses by women as compared to men. Mating strategy “conflict” is resolved by accommodation and negotiation in a process of mate value sorting within the mating economy. It is highly dependent upon individual context. Desire is mitigated by costs, benefits, and availability for both sexes.

Diagram #1: “Collision” of Mating Strategies

venn diagram: collision_of_mating_strategies
Subset Strategies

Humans also have “subset” mating strategies or mating behaviors that intersect with basic long and short-term strategies, including serial mating and extra-pair copulation (EPC) – i.e. infidelity or consensual non-monogamy. Which mating strategy is adopted very much depends on individual mate value. Those higher in mate value can more easily implement their preferred mating strategy. In general, higher mate value women focus even more on a long-term strategy and higher mate value men may focus even more on a short-term strategy. Mating strategy can also be influenced by the sex ratio in the local mating pool and operation of social/cultural norms in the local environment.

Humans Employ Strategic Pluralism

Ultimately, what people want in a long-term mate can be quite different from what they want in a short-term mate. Humans employ “strategic pluralism” — a variety of strategies and tactics when it comes to mating. There are multiple routes to mating success.

Women’s Long-term Strategy

Women’s long-term mating is driven by genetic characteristics and interests of our species: internal fertilization, an extended period of gestation, prolonged infant dependence on mother’s milk, and the need for relatively “high” male parental investment compared to other primates. In addition to protection and a provision of resources, a woman’s long-term strategy seeks character traits that ensure stability and loyalty to her and her children over the long-term.

Trade-offs Between Resources and Character

What is often more salient in female mate selection and relationship satisfaction is the tension between the two preferences inside the female long-term strategy: resources and character. A woman’s long-term mating strategy often involves ambivalence and internal confusion related to her desire for a mate with resources and status, and her preference for loyalty, kindness, intelligence, and character traits for parenting. (See “trade-off boundary” on diagram below.) In America, resources usually win this game of mate selection preference, often with rationalization and denial about the lack of optimal character.

Diagram #2: Women’s Long-term Mating Strategy

Venn diagram: women's long-term mating strategy

Benefits of Women’s Long-term Mating Strategy

  • Significant resources from mate
  • Parental investment
Costs of Women’s Long-term Mating Strategy
  • Restricted sexual opportunity
  • Sexual obligation to mate

The benefits far outweigh the costs and have pre-eminent value in female mate selection — and thus overall power to influence sexual access and all domains of male behavior.

Women’s Short-term Strategy

Women are found to prefer features related to muscularity, strength, fitness, and masculinity – traits associated with symmetry, in their short-term mates. They also look for stable character traits (minimal levels of generosity and kindness) and a fair amount of resources. While the following gives considerable attention to the complexities of a woman’s short-term strategy, it bears repeating that this strategy is not dominant in female mate selection; it is secondary and selective.

Diagram #3: Women’s Short-term Mating Strategy

venn diagram: women's short-term mating strategy
Benefits of a Woman’s Short-term Strategy

Women have a short-term mating strategy that brings several benefits. According to David Buss (Evolutionary Psychology, The New Science of the Mind, 1999), there are three classes of benefits (among a few other hypotheses) that are supported by research:

  1. Resource acquisition. Women could engage in short-term mating for the immediate exchange of meat, goods, or services. Ancestral women may have also engaged in short-term mating in order to obscure the paternity of her offspring (“paternity confusion”) and elicit resources from more than one man. In addition, short-term mating may have brought protection (a resource) from other males when the primary mate was not present.
  2. Genetic benefits. Short-term mating potentially brings enhanced fertility. It may also bring superior or diverse genes from a high-status male, thus giving offspring a better chance of survival against environmental change. Also, the “sexy son” hypothesis suggests that male progeny of such men are very attractive to women in the next generation, thus securing a positive genetic legacy.
    • Physical Stature Equals Genetic Fitness. Women’s prioritization of physical features in short-term partners is consistent with strategic pluralism theory that says women may seek genetic fitness in short-term partners. (Gangestad and Simpson, 2000). According to this “good genes” theory (Thornhill and Gangestad, 1993), women are attracted to men who effectively advertise having genes that are resistant to local pathogens.
    • Ovulation and Short-term Mating Success. Research has found that women value such characteristics (including the scent of symmetrical men) even more around the time of ovulation. As a result, symmetrical and muscular men have greater short-term mating success compared to their relatively asymmetrical and non-muscular peers. They have more sexual partners and are more desirable as affair partner.
  3. Mate Switching Hypotheses. While preferences for traits associated with high-testosterone (muscularity, strength and facial symmetry) tend to support the hypothesis that women seek genetic benefits in short-term mating, recent research and DNA evidence has cast some doubt on this as a motivation and has drawn more attention to the “mate switching hypothesis.” (See Mate Switching Hypothesis).

David Buss (Evolutionary Psychology, The New Science of the Mind, 1999) identifies three reasons for a woman’s short-term mating strategy (infidelity or extra-pair copulations) that confirm a mate switching hypothesis.

Hit the Road Jack

One study found that extra-pair mating made it easier for a women to break up with their current partner — what Buss calls “mate expulsion.” David Buss and Cindy Meston report (Why Women Have Sex, 2009) that women have affairs to test the waters to see if there is someone better out there for them, in an attempt to “trade-up” for a better partner. Women have affairs if they think their relationship may be dissolving. And women cultivate “back-up mates.” As Buss likes to joke in quoting a female research participant, “men are like soup; you always want to have some on the back burner.”

From a Short “Flight” to a Long “Flight”

According to “sexual strategies theory” (Buss and Schmitt, 1993), by being open to short-term relationships, women can increase their options for long-term ones. They can solicit the interest of many men and use this wider net to evaluate long-term mates, or they may be able to turn short-term relationships into long-term ones. If women use short-term mating to assess or attain long-term relationships, they may prioritize the same traits in short-term partners that they prioritize in long-term partners.

More Clues to Mate Switching and Sex Differences

There are other clues to explain the infidelity (short-term mating strategy) of women as reported by Buss –clues that fortify a mate switching objective.

  1. Women who are sexually or emotionally unhappy have affairs. This is not true for men. Men do not often report marital unhappiness as a reason for an affair. According to Buss, men can be relatively happy in their marriage and still have affairs. The issue of emotional dissatisfaction appears to be specific to women.
  2. 70% of women become emotionally involved with or fall in love with their affair partner. In contrast, only about 30% of men do.
  3. As stated above, qualities desired by women in an affair partner are often similar to the qualities desired in a long-term mate. Women want character traits (e.g. kindness) and resources in an affair partner, just not as much as in a long-term mate. This is not true for men. For example, women usually want intelligence in an affair partner. For men, intelligence in an affair partner is mostly irrelevant. Desiring the same qualities in an affair partner further supports a view that the female long-term mating strategy is significantly more adaptive in evolution than the short-term mating strategy.
Self-esteem in Women

Studies have shown that a woman’s self-esteem is a significant predictor of short-term-mating. Women scoring low on self-esteem tended to have a greater number of sex partners, one-night stands, and a preference for short-term sexual relationships.

Costs of Women’s Short-term Strategy
  • Risk of a sexually transmitted disease
  • Risk of pregnancy
  • Reduced value as long-term mate
  • Greater risk of physical and sexual abuse
  • Risk of withdrawal of resources from husband

While the benefits noted above seem compelling, the costs of a woman’s short-term mating strategy far outweigh the benefits and produce a “response desire” and “braking” pattern of female sexual response. These costs directly influence female sexual response and sexual psychology. (See Spontaneous and Response Desire – the Underbelly of Heterosexual Mating.)

Men’s Short-term Strategy

“There seems to be no question but that the human male would be promiscuous in his choice of sexual partners throughout the whole of his life if there were no social restrictions. The human female is much less interested in a variety of partners.” ~ Alfred Kinsey

Evolutionary adaptation has dictated a preference by men for a short-term mating strategy. Trivers’s (1972) theory of parental investment and sexual selection provides a powerful reproductive basis for expecting sex differences. Men, more than women, are predicted to have evolved a greater desire for casual sex and a variety of partners. The same act of sex that causes a woman to invest nine months of internal gestation obligates the man to practically no investment.

Premium On Female Beauty

Men’s short-term strategy puts an immense premium on physical beauty and fertility. Character traits required of a woman are minimal (i.e. “don’t be dangerously crazy”) and resources are not required at all. Men’s short-term strategy is more predominant than their long-term strategy, but the difference is less pronounced behaviorally in modern times.

Diagram #4: Men’s Short-term Mating Strategy

venn diagram: men's short-term mating strategy
Restraints on Men’s Short-term Mating Strategy

Although men could potentially conceive more offspring if they were promiscuous instead of monogamous, there may have been at least two restraining factors of evolution against male promiscuity. Reproductive success depends on the survival of one’s offspring. Children have a better chance of survival if two parents contribute. Men who were highly promiscuous may not have been able to support all their offspring, and thus may not have been as genetically successful as more monogamous men.

Women Have to Consent

As suggested by Roy Baumeister and Dianne Tice (The Social Dimension of Sex, 2001), a second possible restraining factor on male promiscuity is an obvious one: the question of whether a male can get a lot of potential mates if females won’t consent to mate with him.

Promiscuous Male At Possible Disadvantage

Men not predisposed to mate in long-term relationships might not have left enough offspring for a totally promiscuous genetic tendency to proliferate. According to Baumeister and Tice, males thus evolved to mate in long-term relationships to raise their children to adulthood, and also evolved a tendency to be more open than females to a wider variety of mating opportunities. Perhaps this greater need for compromise between monogamy and promiscuity can also explain why men have a greater variety of sexual practices and interests than women.

Put A Ring On It

David Buss suggests (Evolutionary Psychology, The New Science of the Mind, 1999), that men, even in ancestral times, who failed to commit might not have attracted any women at all. Women’s requirement for consenting to sex could have made it costly for men to pursue a short-term strategy exclusively. In the economics of reproductive effort, the costs of not pursuing a permanent mate may have been prohibitively high for most men.

High Mate Value Men Like Short-term Mating

High mate value men (on the “Self-perceived Mating Success Scale”) tended to have sex at an earlier age, a greater number of sex partners, and more sex relative to their lower mate-value counterparts. And high mate value men scored higher on the “Sapiosexuality Inventory” suggesting that they are pursuing a short-term mating strategy. These are measures of the holy grail of sexual turn-on for women: self-confidence. This is what “cocky” really means. (BTW, penis size does indeed contribute to this self-confidence — to being “cocky.” (See Undiscussables.)

Men Lower Their Standards

Buss and Schmitt (1993) found that men desire more partners and lower their standards for short-term mating. Men in this study expressed lower standards than women on forty-one of the forty-seven characteristics named as potentially desirable in a casual mate. For brief encounters, men required a lower level of charm, athleticism, education, generosity, honesty, independence, kindness, intelligence, loyalty, sense of humor, sociability, wealth, responsibility, spontaneity, cooperation, and emotional stability.

Closing Time Phenomenon

Relatedly, men shift perceptions of attractiveness near closing time in a singles bar regardless of how much alcohol they have consumed. With this “closing time phenomenon,” women just look better and better as the night wears on. In contrast to men, most women can obtain a desirable temporary mate without having to relax their standards at closing time.

Sex Ratio Effect on Short-term Mating for Both Sexes

Men shift to brief encounters when more women are sexually available (positive sex ratio), satisfying their desire for variety. Correlated to that, women on college campuses today will shift toward more short-term mating because the surplus of women causes more intra-sexual competition. When there is a surplus of men, in contrast, both sexes shift toward a long-term mating strategy marked by stable marriages and fewer divorces.

Benefits of Men’s Short-term Strategy
  • Potential to reproduce; more sex partners
  • No parental investment
Costs of Men’s Short-term Strategy
  • Risk of sexually transmitted diseases
  • Some resource investment
  • Less protection for genetic children
  • Acquiring a reputation as a womanizer
  • Suffering violence from husbands, brothers or fathers
  • Retaliatory affairs by wives or a costly divorce

The benefits of the male short-term mating strategy have shaped the evolution of male neurology and physiology and influenced male behavior, especially sexual initiation and intra-sexual competition. But costs do mitigate this strategy, especially in modern times.

Men’s Long-term Strategy

For long-term mates, men still put a premium on physical beauty and markers of health and fertility for initial attraction. Buss and Schmitt (1993) studied 37 cultures and confirmed the universal desire for physical attractiveness in a long-term mate. But men also want a woman who is faithful and kind. Resources are considered but are usually a distant third in importance. As stated above, men who are willing to commit to a long-term relationship have a wider range of women from which to choose.

Marriage in the U.S. Favors Men With Resources

As discussed in Dynamics in the Mating Economy: Domain #1 of Male-Female Difference, marriage patterns in modern America confirm the fact that men with resources are most able to actualize their preferences.

Diagram #5: Men’s Long-term Mating Strategy

venn diagram: men's long-term mating strategy
Benefits of Men’s Long-term Strategy
  • Increased paternity certainty
  • Improved social competitiveness of children
  • Sexual and social companionship, especially for “beta” males
Costs of Men’s Long-term Strategy
  • Restricted sexual opportunities
  •  Heavy parental investment
  • Heavy relationship investment

The benefits of men’s long-term mating strategy tend to outweigh the costs in most cultures in modern times. Pair-bonding and relative monogamy is the norm in most modern societies.

References

Buss, D. M., (1999). Evolutionary Psychology, The New Science of the Mind.

Buss, D. M. & Schmitt, D.P. (1993) “Sexual strategies theory: An evolutionary perspective on human mating.” Psychological Review, 100, 204-232.

Clark, R. D. & Hatfield, E. (1989). “Gender differences in receptivity to sexual offers.” Journal of Psychology and Human Sexuality, 2, 39-55.

Dibble, et al (2015, June 11). “Simmering on the back burner: communication with and disclosure of relationship alternatives.” Communication Quarterly, 63(3), 329-344.

Gangestad, S.W. & Simpson, J.A. (2000). “The evolution of human mating: Tradeoffs and strategic pluralism.” Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 23, 573-587.

Li, P. (2008). “Intelligent Priorities: Adaptive Long- and Short-term Mate Preferences,” in Mating Intelligence, eds., Geher, G., & Miller, G.

Thornhill, R., & Gangestad, S..W. (1993). “Human facial beauty: Averageness, symmetry and parasite resistance.” Human Nature, 4, 237-269.

Trivers, R. L. (1972). “Parental investment ad sexual selection.” In B. Campbell (Ed.), Sexual Selection and the Descent of Man, (pp.136-179).

Appendix

 
Domains of Male-Female Differences in Sexual Psychology

1. Behavioral dynamics in the mating economy

2. Long-term vs. short-term mating strategies

3. Trait preferences and priorities for mate selection

4. Physical attraction and perceptions of beauty

5. Concordance between physiological response and psychological desire

6. Spontaneous desire vs. response desire

7. Sex and love-making that fuels desire

8. Accelerator vs. brake: sexual excitation and inhibition systems

9. Brain structures: sexual pursuit and visual stimuli

10. Hormonal differences

11. Variety and novelty

12. Sexual mentation and “sex drive”

13. Influence of context

14. Female competing intentions and imposed double bind 

15. Sexual orientation (and preference) fluidity and response variability

16. Orgasm – purpose and characteristics

17. Meta emotions

18. Romance and desire, together and apart

19. Psychology of monogamy

20. Infidelity – reasons and response

21. Jealousy – triggers, tactics, and consequences

22. Sexual fantasies

 

*Assumptions of Mating Straight Talk
  • Men and Women have similarities as human beings, and aggregate differences from each other, that are primarily a function of biology and evolutionary adaptation. Our similarities do not often cause conflict. But our differences, and the denial of those differences, often cause “trouble”.
  • Men and Women have differences that we must acknowledge and understand in order to have satisfying heterosexual (romantic and sexual) relationships.
  • Men and Women have differences that we must acknowledge and understand in order to bring clarity to the “politics” of sex and gender.
  • Men and Women need “straight talk” (radical honesty) in order to uncover and accept our differences.
  • Men and Women need straight talk about our differences in order to empower one another for co-creative relationships.

Please Note: Your comment may take up to 12 seconds to register and the confirmation message will appear above the “Submit a Comment” text. 

Dynamics in the Mating Economy: Domain #1 of Male-Female Difference

Dynamics in the Mating Economy: Domain #1 of Male-Female Difference

by | Sep 8, 2020 | Dating & Mating Economy, Sexuality

“There are a number of mechanical devices which increase sexual arousal, particularly in women. Chief among them is the Mercedes-Benz SL500.” ~ Lynn Lavner

Twenty-two Domains of Difference (See list in Appendix)

This is first in a series of posts that will explain the twenty-two domains of difference between men and women in their sexual psychology and response. (See introduction to the series: Male-Female Differences in Sexual Psychology and Response.) Differences are based on statistical aggregates of all men and women from authoritative research studies. These are tendencies that apply to the general population of male and female heterosexuals but do predict the unique sexuality of a particular man or woman. It may be instructive, however, to understand our foundational “wiring” – the evolutionary adaptations that remain active in modern human mating. Most of these domains of difference can affect the equilibrium of our relationships.

Behavioral Dynamics in the Mating Economy – Domain #1
This post will explore differences related to:

  1. General psychological sex differences in the mating economy (an overview)
  2. The influence of money, status, and resources in the mating economy
  3. The operation of the mating economy as a market place – the haves and have-nots
  4. The nature and influence of the “bargain” of exchange between men and women
  5. The psychological difference between the pursuer and the one pursued

General Sex Differences in the Psychology of the Mating Economy:

  • Women have the psychology of choice and an abundance of sexual attention during their reproductive years (this is mostly good, but sometimes bad); men mostly do not have choice or an abundance of mating opportunities. Beautiful women have immense choice in the mating economy and rich men have the greatest opportunity to be chosen.
  • Men (mostly) have the psychology of sexual scarcity and activation of the sympathetic nervous system as pursuer and competitor with other males.
  • Women have the psychology of caution and fear — sexual inhibition and “brakes” on sexual activity and experience of risk. Women fear being physically hurt, left to fend on their own with a child, or suffering reputational damage.
  • Women are prone to have regret or guilt about what they did in the sexual and mating realm.
  • Men are prone to have guilt and regret about what they did not do. (Lack of courage to initiate toward a woman.)
  • Men have fear of humiliation and being rejected. This fear is “existential” in its impact – it evokes the very essence of manhood and worth because it goes to the core of evolution: male sexuality and the passing on of the genetic code. Men’s fear of humiliation is mostly understood by women but the male psychology of existential threat is not acknowledged, understood, or given an empathic ear.
  • Men have anger that comes from this threat and the lack of sexual access; there are no easy answers to this in the mating economy. The psychology of the haves and have-nots is ubiquitous across many domains of social life in the West.
  • Some women experience their own existential angst related to the need to have a child; this too is encoded into sexual expression. The female sexual “instinct” interfaces with the maternal/care-taking instinct.
  • Women also have fear, anger, and grief about being over-looked or no longer being desired by the men that are acceptable to them as mates. This is a loss of “erotic power.”
  • Women often experience a significant trade-off problem in their mate selection decision-making between choosing a man of status (financially successful) and choosing a man with a loyal and generous character. Both trait profiles are required. Men do not have this particular trade-off dilemma in their mate selection psychology nor any other trade-off problem as significant as that in their long-term mating strategy. (This will be explored in a future post, Domain #3: Trait Preferences and Priorities in Mate Selection.)
  • Men are driven by a spontaneous, initiating sexual psychology (spontaneous desire) and women are characterized by a cautionary, “response desire.” (See Spontaneous and Response Desire – the Underbelly of Heterosexual Mating.) I will explore this in Domain #6: Spontaneous Desire vs. Response Desire.
  • Finally, the psychology of the mating economy is haunted by the undertow of the erotic-economic bargain: the exchange of beauty and fertility for resources and protection. The dynamic of this exchange is anchored in the fundamental objectives of human mating strategy and reproduction. In modern times, it is characterized by motivated reasoning used to deny its existence. This is the psychology of collusion, rationalization, and avoidance. The erotic-economic bargain has political implications.

Supply and Demand Forces in the Mating Marketplace
In the human mating economy, men mostly sell and women mostly buy; this is the predominant evolutionary dynamic. The buyer (female chooser) significantly controls the marketplace.

All behaviors of mate selection (intersexual selection by women and intra-sexual competition primarily by men) are driven by supply and demand forces for sexual access to the best (highest mate value) mates. Fertile (and consensually most “beautiful”) women are in great demand and the supply of men interested in them creates significant differences in behavioral dynamics – leading to a multitude of male initiation strategies, misreading of signals by women (male “over-perception bias”), and a reproductive variance curve in the human population: more women have sex and reproduce in the general population than do men, as shown by genetic studies (see below).

Most Men Want the Same Women

Simply said, roughly 80% of men compete for 20% or less of the same (highest mate value) women in the overall mating economy. Interested men are in great supply in this market (as driven by biological-hormonal imperatives), and receptive women are scarce. Supply and demand forces skew odds in favor of female choice and dramatically work against the odds of a man being chosen.

Pursuer vs. Pursued

The 180% difference between a buyer and a seller in the mating-sexual economy is dramatic in its psychological impact. It affects motivation, origination of desire, perceptions of risk and safety, and ultimately the experience of sexual scarcity or abundance.

The psychology (lived experience) of the sexual initiator and pursuer is vastly different than the psychology of the one pursued and the one who chooses among her pursuers. This general difference between men and women cannot be overstated.

Male intra-sexual competition (men competing against one another) has unique behavioral and psychological dynamics. The psychology of female intersexual selection (preferential mate choice) – the experience of being pursued, is a mixed bag. It can be exhilarating to be adored and desired, until it is not. Women’s intra-sexual competition (women competing against one another) for male attention is a different behavioral phenomenon than male-on-male competition. (I will explore intra-sexual competition in Domain #2: Long-term vs. Short-term Mating Strategies.)

Erotic-Economic Bargain – the Ultimate Exchange in the Mating Economy

The exchange of physical beauty and fertility (erotic power) for economic power (and/or protection) is the perennial bargain of human mating over eons of time. This bargain is rooted in the willingness and capacity for parental (economic) investment from the man and the reproductive (sexual) access allowed by the women in response to that investment.  It is the unconscious infrastructure of heterosexuality.  The ability of a man to protect and provide for children is the key ingredient and evolutionary force driving this mate preference by women; it is the trigger for her sexual availability. Her youth and fertility is her erotic power — a power that controls and influences male aspiration for social dominance, economic power, and competition with other men. Female erotic power fuels the fire of male sexuality. Sexual access to women is the penultimate motivation and prize. The strength of a man’s preference for physically attractive women and a woman’s preference for financially successful men works conjointly in relationship to their mate value. At the upper end of their respective mate value, there is an assortative pairing of the beautiful with the rich.

Renegotiating the Bargain?
In recent decades, the erotic-economic bargain may be undergoing a bit of renegotiation with surface or cosmetic changes that comport with our particular political moment. Female empowerment and independence from men is progressing and evolving in its influence. But most evidence “on the ground” of the modern dating scene (with some nuances related to older or senior Americans) does not show a movement away from our ancient, evolutionary adaptations; there has not been a significant change in the foundational priorities and preferences for a partner by men and women. Content analysis of dating websites reveal that women explicitly ask for “financially secure” or “professional” partners roughly twenty times more often that men do.

 Foundational Collusion
Although the exchange of sex for resources is a shared agreement, it is often implicit and “secretly” held – that is what is meant by “collusion.” Men and women have vastly different parts to play in holding the agreement in place. This foundational collusion of exchange influences all other pieces of the heterosexual “puzzle.” To be clear, even though the erotic-economic bargain is often not explicit or conscious, it fertilizes (sorry for the pun) the soil of human reproduction.  The erotic-economic bargain is largely “undiscussable.”

Mate Value is the “Currency”

Mate value (and assessed mate value trajectory of men) rules the marketplace. Men with resources, status, and larger physical attributes (especially height) have greater mate value than men who do not. Women’s mate value is primarily determined by physical characteristics of beauty, waist-to-hip ratio, and other signals of fertility. Mate value drives the initial mate selection process. Mate value includes elements of character and other preferred traits as courtship continues into the period of relationship maintenance. But human sexuality is primarily designed to choose and access sexual partners, not keep them over time.

“In or Out of Your League”

It is no accident that we commonly rate ourselves and others on a “1-10” point scale. While there is a tendency for both sexes to over-rate vs. under-rate themselves, we generally know if our desired partner is “in or out of our league.” If we are a “7”, we strive to bargain successfully for a “7-9.” Men, especially, who know they are seen as a “5” or below, lust hopelessly after unattainable women who are a “9” or “10.” This understandable tendency is biologically, not rationally inspired. There is painful despondency for both sexes related to the invisibility of low mate value. Narratives in comedy, television, literature, and film often use mate value mismatches as fodder for entertainment.

Assortative Mating is the Visible Part of the Iceberg

Assortative mating is the tendency to be attracted to someone who is similar in age, socio-economic status, educational attainment, geographic location, physical appearance, and facial attractiveness. Someone who is “in our league.” Linked to mate value, assortative mating is the dominant process in the mating market. Assortative mating is the part of the iceberg that is visible above the water; below the surface is the erotic-economic bargain that may influence how things sort out.

Definition of a Good Deal

Assortative mating demonstrates the power of “mate value” attributions about self and others. These value assessments fuel strategic mating behavior toward the people we desire, or at least determine who we actually end up with. People self-sort according to their mate value; traits and priorities are unconsciously or consciously ranked and considered as a whole. The mate value of most people is limited, so one cannot attract a committed partner who is at the maximum of every desired trait. Trade-offs are made. But the definition of a “good” deal in the mating game can be traced to how well the erotic-economic bargain is maximized in the favor of each person, considering their individual mate value and the availability of potential partners in the local mating pool.

Mate Value Sex Differences and Assortative Mating
Assortative mating is a neutral process with regard to sex differences over-all. Men and women seek similarities along many dimensions of background, and the market naturally brings them a partner with an equal mate value. The assortative mating process does match for equivalent mate value, but the mate value of a woman is powerfully defined by her physical beauty, and the mate value of a man is largely based on the size of his financial resources.

Trait Preferences and Perceptions of Attraction

Mate selection research has documented many shared preferences of men and women; they seek love, kindness, intelligence, and good health in their mates (as they uniquely define those traits). When entering a relationship, women place greater emphasis on the immediate access to resources in order to assess a potential mate’s willingness and ability to invest in her; if a man does show immediate investment in a relationship, the woman is typically more likely to have sex with him. (Spreecher, Sullivan, & Hatfield, 1994).

“The two sexes often engage in this exchange of reproductive currencies with men looking to exchange investment for sex and women preferring to exchange sex for investment.” (Kruger, 2008).

Emphasis on Attractiveness and Financial Prospects

Males and females rate the characteristics of physical attractiveness and financial prospects differently. The degree of emphasis that women place on the importance of a man’s financial prospects has been well documented (see references). The different valuation of these two traits is consistent throughout the world, with men placing a higher value on physical attractiveness and women placing a higher value on financial prospects. Men are generally indifferent to the financial prospects of women (Buss, 1989). But a woman’s preference for a mate with financial prospects also influences her perception of a man’s physical attractiveness.

Money and Beauty are Directly Correlated

Psychological researchers Richard Urdy and Bruce Eckland did a study of men and women to predict marital and socio-economic status fifteen years into the future. They used attractiveness ratings based on high school annual pictures. Results showed that a man’s level of resources was directly correlated with the level of physical attractiveness of his partner. Attractiveness allowed females to secure highly educated husbands with a high income. Money and beauty were correlated in a positive and linear relationship. 

The Car Makes the Man

Gregory Shuler & David McCord (Western Carolina University) used subject ratings from the website “Hot or Not” and found a linear and positive relationship between the value of a man’s car and the degree of attractiveness perceived by women. A man was depicted with three different cars: a decrepit Dodge Neon, a Ford Focus, and a Mercedes C Class C300. He was rated most “hot” when pictured with the Mercedes.

As reported in the British Journal of Psychology (April, 2009), researchers Michael Dunn and Robert Searle found that men positioned with a high-status, silver Bentley Continental GT were rated significantly more attractive than when the man was positioned with a red Ford Fiesta ST. When the conditions were reversed by sex, men did not rate women as more attractive in the high status vs. low-status condition; it had no influence. 

“Costly-signaling” by Men

Since women have a preference for men with resources, men have evolved strategies for the purpose of demonstrating this characteristic for women. Strategies include boasting about one’s resources, the derogation of a competitor’s status, ambition or resources, and displaying conspicuous consumption when in potential mating scenarios. Men tend to increase spending on luxury items (like a car) that indicates “costly-signaling” as a display of expendable income that could be potentially be allocated to a mate.

Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend

Other studies have shown a positive and linear correlation between female physical beauty and the monetary values of engagement and wedding rings. The value and expenditures for courtship and nuptial gifts increase with the physical attractiveness of the female. In a study by researchers Jaime Cloud and Madalyn Taylor (“The Effect of Mate Value Discrepancy on Hypothetical Engagement Ring Purchases”), women desired greater resource investment to compensate for a lack of physical attractiveness in their male partners.

Reproductive Variance: the Haves and the Have-nots

“Reproductive variance” refers to the variability of reproductive success for human males and females. For men, the difference between men who did not reproduce (the have-nots) and the men who reproduced prolifically (the haves), is very wide. For women, there is much less variance; most women reproduce and the number of children they have is constrained by their biology.

DNA studies by Jason Wilder and colleagues revealed that approximately 80% of women in human history have reproduced compared to approximately 40% of men. The human population is descended from twice as many women as men. Author and influential social psychologist, Roy Baumeister, (Is There Anything Good About Men), says reproductive variance between men and women was probably even greater through much of human history, and especially human prehistory. “In many animal species, close to 90% of the females but only 20% of the male reproduced. In modern times, human monogamy has spread across the globe. But in past eras, polygamy (one husband, multiple wives) was the norm, the reproductive imbalance would have been more severe” than 80% to 40%.

Most Men are Losers in the Mating Game

Put another way, a woman’s odds of having a line of descendants down to the present is double those of a man. Most women who ever lived to adulthood probably had at least one baby and in fact have a descendant alive today. Most men did not. Baumeister again: “Most men who ever lived, like all the wild horses that did not ascend to the alpha males’ top spot, left behind no genetic traces of themselves. Of all the humans ever born, most women became mothers, but most men did not become fathers.” Baumeister considers this “the single most underappreciated fact about the difference between men and women.”

The Super-Haves – Men at the Top of the “Economic”- Status Hierarchy

One of the greatest conquers in world history (13th century), Genghis Khan, is reported to have sired hundreds and possibly over a thousand children. In 2003, an international team of geneticists published a DNA analysis of central Asians. Researchers found that one in twelve men in Central Asia had the same Y chromosome. Genghis Khan had roughly 16 million descendants in 2003. 

Other Males Who Got More than Their Share

Other male all-stars in the genetic/Y chromosome reproductive hall of fame are: Middle Age king, King Nail. One in 12 in Ireland are genetically linked to King Nail, possibly 2-3 million worldwide. Manchu ruler (17th century), Nurhaci, or perhaps his grandfather Giocangga, has 1.6 million descendants alive today. Moulay Ismail ibn Sharif, a warrior King who ruled Morocco from 1672-1727, had 500 concubines and 888 children. King Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines. Idi Amin, Ugandan despot in the 1970s had 4 wives and 30 children. Large harems were the order of the day for the Egyptian Pharaohs, the Aztec kings, the Turkish sultans, the African kings, and the Chinese emperors. (Laura Betzig, Despotism and Differential Reproduction).

Incas Allocated Women According to Status

Inca law allowed male aristocrats 50 women apiece; the leaders of vassal nations (Inca feudal territories) were allotted 30, the heads of 100,000 men were given 20 women, and so on down to leaders of ten men, who were allotted 3. The men at the bottom often went unmarried (Sex and War, Malcom Potts and Thomas Hayden, p. 18-19). 

Erotic and Economic Power – the Age of Celebrity

At the high end of male and female mate value, rich men and beautiful women find each other. The erotic-economic bargain is commonly demonstrated by the preference and ability of older men to partner with significantly younger women – women usually in their fertile years at the time of the union. Take a look at the list below (Appendix) of high status, celebrity, rich men, and their wives. You will see up to 60+ years of age difference. Money can allow men to “mate down” decades to find beautiful women who will choose to partner with them.

Of course, many of these celebrities have attractive intellectual, physical, and emotional qualities (i.e. their talent), but what they have most importantly is high status and great wealth.

 Undeniably we see evidence of:

  • the power of fame and money to attract younger women – with relative doses of charm, talent, and physical attractiveness.
  • how resources, prestige, and status drive the mating system and female choice.
  • how men, given options literally “afforded” them, will naturally pursue the most beautiful women.
  • how the resistance against age difference, proclamations of “he is too old,” are relative to the degree of fame and money the man possesses.

All the men included here are rich and famous. All the women are beautiful. The erotic-economic bargain in stark terms.

 

Appendix

 
Age Differences of Male Celebrities and their Partners – The “Haves” of Erotic-Economic Exchange
Jay Marshall and Anne Nicole Smith 62 years
Hugh Hefner and Crystal Harris 60 years
Dick Van Dyke and Arlene Silver 46 years
Mick Jagger and Melanie Hamrick 43 years
Robert Duval and Luciana Pedraza 41 years
Patrick Stewart and Sunny Ozell  38 years
Rupert Murdoch and Wendy Deng 38 years
Charlie Chaplin and Oona O’Neill 36 years
Clint Eastwood and Dina Ruiz  35 years
Woody Allen and Soon-Yi Previn 35 years
David Foster and Katharine McPhee 34 years
Doug Hutchinson and Courtney Stodden 34 years
Lee Majors and Faith Noelle Cross 34 years
Gary Grant and Dyan Cannon 33 years
Dennis Quaid and Santa Auzina 33 years
Aristotle Onassis and Jackie Kennedy 33 years
Billy Joel and Alexis Roderick  33 years
Bing Crosby and Kathryn Grant  33 years
David Lynch and Emily Stofle 32 years
Billy Joel and Katie Lee  32 years
John Cleese and Jennifer Wade  31 years
Ronnie Wood and Sally Humphreys 31 years
Jeff Goldblum and Emilie Livingston 30 years
Frank Sinatra and Mia Farrow 30 years
William Shatner and Elizabeth Anderson 30 years
Alan Thicke and Tanya Callau  28 years
Rod Stewart and Penny Lancaster 27 years
Eric Clapton and Melia McEnery  27 years
Nelson Mandela and Graca Machel 27 years
Larry King and Shawn Southwick  26 years
Alec Baldwin and Hilaria Thomas 26 years
Bill Murray and Jenny Lewis 26 years
Steve Martin and Anne Stringfield 26 years
Rupert Murdoch and Jerry Hall  26 years
Dane Cook and Kelsi Taylor  26 years
Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall 25 years
Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones 25 years
Rod Stewart and Rachel Hunter 25 years
Kelsey Grammer and Kayte Walsh 25 years
Bruce Willis and Emma Heming 24 years
Rene Angelil and Celine Dion 24 years
Donald Trump and Melania  24 years
Christopher Knight and Adrianne Curry 23 years
Johnny Depp and Amber Heard 22 years
Harrison Ford and Calista Flockhart 22 years
Sylvester Stallone and Jennifer Flavin 22 years
Kevin Costner and Christine Baumgartner  22 years
Carlo Ponti and Sophia Loren 22 years
Glen Campbell and Kim Campbell 21 years
Floyd Mayweather and Raemarni Ball 20 years
Prince Albert of Monaco and Princess Charlene 20 years
Warren Beatty and Annette Bening 19 years
Jason Statham and Rosie Huntington-W. 19 years
Anthony Hopkins and Stella Arroyave  19 years
Eddie Murphy and Paige Butcher  19 years
Jason Statham and Rosie Hunington-W. 19 years
Dominic Purcell and AnnaLynne McCord  18 years
Christian Slater and Brittany Lopez 18 years
Howard Stern and Beth Ostrosky  18 years
Paul McCartney and Nancy Shevell 18 years
Jerry Seinfeld and Jessica Sklar 17 years
Oliver Sarkozy and Mary-Kate Olsen 17 years
George Clooney and Amal Alamuddin  17 years
Bradley Cooper and Suki Waterhouse 17 years
Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes 16 years
Kevin Kline and Phoebe Cates 16 years
References

Buss. D. M. & Schmitt, D.P. (1993) “Sexual strategies theory: An evolutionary perspective on human mating.”  Psychological Review, 100, 204-232.

Buss, Shackleford, Kirkpatrick & Larsen, (2001). “A half century of mate preferences: the cultural evolution of values.”  Journal of Marriage and Family, 63 (2), 491-503.

Dunn, M. &  Searle, R., (2009). “Effect of manipulated prestige-car ownership on both sex attractiveness ratings.”  British Journal of Psychology, 101, (Pt 1) 69-80.

Gangestad, S.W. & Simpson, J.A. (2000). “The evolution of human mating: Tradeoffs and strategic pluralism.”  Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 23, 573-587.

Kruger, D. J. (2008). “Young adults attempt exchanges in reproductively relevant currencies.” Evolutionary Psychology, 6(1), 204-212.

McAndrew, F., “Costly Signaling Theory,” Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Science, 2019.

Shuler, G., & McCord, D. (2010). “Determinants of Male Attractiveness: “Hotness” Ratings as a Function of Perceived Resources,” American Journal of Psychological Research, Vol. 6, No. 1.

Spreecher, S., Sullivan, Q., & Hatfield, E. (1994).  Mate selection preferences: Gender differences examined in national sample.   Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 66(6), 1074-1080.

Udry, J.R. & Eckland, B.K. (1984).  “The benefits of being attractive: Differential payoffs for men and women.” Psychological Reports, 54, 47-56.

Wilder, J.A. et al, (2004). “Genetic evidence for unequal effective population sizes of human females and males.”  Molecular Biology and Evolution, 21, 2047-2057.

 
Domains of Male-Female Differences in Sexual Psychology

1. Behavioral dynamics in the mating economy

2. Long-term vs. short-term mating strategies

3. Trait preferences and priorities for mate selection

4. Physical attraction and perceptions of beauty

5. Concordance between physiological response and psychological desire

6. Spontaneous desire vs. response desire

7. Sex and love-making that fuels desire

8. Accelerator vs. brake: sexual excitation and inhibition systems

9. Brain structures: sexual pursuit and visual stimuli

10. Hormonal differences

11. Variety and novelty

12. Sexual mentation and “sex drive”

13. Influence of context

14. Female competing intentions and imposed double bind 

15. Sexual orientation (and preference) fluidity and response variability

16. Orgasm – purpose and characteristics

17. Meta emotions

18. Romance and desire, together and apart

19. Psychology of monogamy

20. Infidelity – reasons and response

21. Jealousy – triggers, tactics, and consequences

22. Sexual fantasies

 

*Assumptions of Mating Straight Talk
  • Men and Women have similarities as human beings, and aggregate differences from each other, that are primarily a function of biology and evolutionary adaptation. Our similarities do not often cause conflict. But our differences, and the denial of those differences, often cause “trouble”.
  • Men and Women have differences that we must acknowledge and understand in order to have satisfying heterosexual (romantic and sexual) relationships.
  • Men and Women have differences that we must acknowledge and understand in order to bring clarity to the “politics” of sex and gender.
  • Men and Women need “straight talk” (radical honesty) in order to uncover and accept our differences.
  • Men and Women need straight talk about our differences in order to empower one another for co-creative relationships.

Please Note: Your comment may take up to 12 seconds to register and the confirmation message will appear above the “Submit a Comment” text. 

Male-Female Differences in Sexual Psychology and Response

Male-Female Differences in Sexual Psychology and Response

by | Aug 25, 2020 | Biological Difference, Dating & Mating Economy, Sexuality

Over the millennia, men and women have evolved with different objectives and strategies of sexual psychology and response – strategies related to choosing a mate, reproduction, and parental investment. For the next several months, this blog space will address twenty-two “domains” of difference in sexual psychology and response between cisgender men and women with an emphasis on a heterosexual orientation.* (See “Assumptions” below.)

Here is a narrative summary of these differences followed by a list of the twenty-two domains. There is overlap and synergy between the domains but the underlying distinctions are clarifying. These differences are based on statistical aggregates of all men and women from authoritative research studies and cannot predict the unique sexuality of a particular man or woman.

General Differences between Men and Women in Sexual Psychology and Response
  • Women have their own unique sexuality, like a fingerprint, and vary more than men in anatomy, sexual response, sexual mechanisms, and the way their bodies respond to the sexual world. Women vary more widely from each other and change more substantially over their lifetime than do men.
  • Women are less likely to have alignment (“concordance”) between their genital response and their subjective arousal; this causes confusion and misunderstanding for women and their male partners. Men have dramatically more concordance between their genital response and subjective arousal.
  • All sex happens in context. Women are more context-sensitive than men and all external circumstances of everyday life influence the context surrounding a woman’s arousal, desire, and orgasm.
  • Women’s sexual functioning is more influenced by their internal brain state — how they think and feel about sex. Judgment, shame, stress, mood, trust, body image, and past trauma are more influential on a woman’s sexual well-being.
  • Men and women have significantly different hormones and some variations in brain structure. Differences caused by the amount of testosterone cannot be overstated.
  • Men and women differ in visual orientation for physical attraction and the traits preferred in a mate.
  • Human sexual response consists of a “dual control” system with an excitation mechanism (“accelerator”) and an inhibition mechanism (“brake”). Men are accelerator-dominant and women are brake-dominant.
  • Related to differences between the sexual “accelerator” and “brake,” men operate primarily from “spontaneous desire” triggers and women operate primarily from “response desire” triggers.
  • Men sell (mostly) and women buy (mostly) in the mating economy; this is the predominant evolutionary dynamic. The psychology of the sexual initiator and pursuer is vastly different than the psychology of the one pursued and the one who chooses among her pursuers.
  • The psychology of male intra-sexual competition is quite different than the psychology of female intersexual selection (preferential mate choice.) Also, women’s intra-sexual competition (women competing against each other) for male attention is a different behavioral phenomenon than male-on-male competition.
Domains of Male-Female Differences in Sexual Psychology

1. Behavioral dynamics in the mating economy
2. Long-term vs. short-term mating strategies
3. Trait preferences and priorities for mate selection
4. Physical attraction and perceptions of beauty
5. Concordance between physiological response and psychological desire
6. Spontaneous desire vs. response desire
7. Sex and love-making that fuels desire
8. Accelerator vs. brake: sexual excitation and inhibition systems
9. Brain structures: sexual pursuit and visual stimuli
10. Hormonal differences
11. Variety and novelty
12. Sexual mentation and “sex drive”
13. Influence of context
14. Female competing intentions and imposed double binds
15. Sexual orientation (and preference) fluidity and response variability
16. Orgasm – purpose, and characteristics
17. Meta emotions
18. Romance and desire, together and apart
19. Psychology of monogamy
20. Infidelity – reasons and response
21. Jealousy – triggers, tactics, and consequences
22. Sexual fantasies

Each domain will be examined as a distinct phenomenon of difference although some will be addressed as correlated or parallel in physiological or psychological response. This blog series will not necessarily run continuously – as other topics (some in a series, some not) will also be posted.

Thanks for reading what is coming to Mating Straight Talk. Comments are encouraged!

*Assumptions of Mating Straight Talk
  • Men and Women have similarities as human beings, and aggregate differences from each other, that are primarily a function of biology and evolutionary adaptation. Our similarities do not often cause conflict. But our differences, and the denial of those differences, often cause “trouble”.
  • Men and Women have differences that we must acknowledge and understand in order to have satisfying heterosexual (romantic and sexual) relationships.
  • Men and Women have differences that we must acknowledge and understand in order to bring clarity to the “politics” of sex and gender.
  • Men and Women need “straight talk” (radical honesty) in order to uncover and accept our differences.
  • Men and Women need straight talk about our differences in order to empower one another for co-creative relationships.

Please Note: Your comment may take up to 12 seconds to register and the confirmation message will appear above the “Submit a Comment” text. 

Assortative Mating and Indian Match-Making — “Caste” in Stone?

Assortative Mating and Indian Match-Making — “Caste” in Stone?

by | Aug 11, 2020 | Dating & Mating Economy, Steven's Story, Women's Issues

Often described as one of the architectural wonders of the world, the stunning 17th-century white marble Taj Mahal was built by the Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan, as a mausoleum for his beloved wife Mumtaz who died giving birth to their 14th child. Mumtaz was Shah Jahan’s third and favorite wife, and their love story is legendary. The Taj Mahal is a symbol of Indian love and marriage that is congenial to prescribed gender roles. Yet some historians believe Mumtaz wielded considerable political power and influence. She was not exactly a dutiful wife despite being pregnant all the time. Reportedly, she was an excellent chess player and was ambitious, if not ruthless. Apparently, imperial women in the Mughal period exercised significant political authority.

Hold that thought. (I will get back to the Taj Mahal.)

 
Indian Matchmaking on Netflix

Television comedies, dramas, and reality shows almost always contain stories about love, romance, and the challenges of finding a mate. I have always found narratives and situations that explicate evolutionary psychology and mate selection science in these shows. These past two weeks I found myself fascinated by the Netflix show Indian Matchmaking. This show demonstrates “assortative mating” through the lens of Indian culture.

Indian Matchmaking is a reality-based “confection” (filmed in pre-Covid, 2019) that tastes pretty good on the tip of the tongue as entertainment but has layers of after-taste that are disheartening about marriage-making in India and in the American desi community. Indian Matchmaking has more than a hint of satire and perhaps a political message of self-deprecation. It can be quite educational to American audiences who are mostly ignorant (like myself) of Indian culture, although critics caution that it is an incomplete view of modern Indians. Released on July 16, Indian Matchmaking was a top 10 Netflix series in the U.S. for weeks, and number one in India.

 

 What is Assortative Mating?

Assortative mating is the tendency to pursue and be attracted to someone who is similar in age, socio-economic status, educational attainment, geographic location, religion, physical appearance, and facial attractiveness. Assortative mating is the dominant force in the mating market around the world—with some unique cultural expressions, as we shall see.

 

What is Caste?

Caste is a form of social stratification characterized by hereditary status and the custom of marrying only within the limits of a local community, clan, or tribe (endogamy). Caste includes stratification by occupational status in a hierarchy and social exclusion based upon cultural notions of purity. Modern India’s caste system is based on colonial imposition on the four-fold system (Varna) found in ancient Hindu texts. There are five levels of caste if you also count the lowest group, the Dalits (untouchables). Scholars believe the Varna system was never truly operational in India society . The practical division of society has always been in terms of birth groups (Jatis) which are not based on any religious principle, but could vary from ethnic groups, to occupations, to geographical areas. However varied and amorphous in its application, caste remains as an idea of social stratification that is a function of hereditary status. (See below for thoughts about caste in the U.S. spurred by the just published, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents, by Isabel Wilkerson.)

 

What is Colorism?

Colorism is the discrimination people face, usually within their own racial group(s) where lighter skin tones/complexions are seen as more desirable than darker skin tones. With this prejudice, people are treated differently based on the social implications and cultural meanings that are attached to skin color.

 

Mate Selection and Assortative Mating – Indian Style

Assortative mating is the utilitarian workings of a mating marketplace – to “buy, sell, and deal.” The objective is to get the best deal available in an ever-moving landscape (chessboard) of mating game dynamics. It is the musical chair you are in when both people decide to decide. Assortative mating is the conscious and unconscious sausage-making of finding a partner within the boundaries of a person’s mate value and opportunities in a mating pool.

A match-making show is based on the long-term mating strategy for both sexes – the search and intention to create a life-long pair bond. In Indian Matchmaking, the male short-term sexual strategy is nearly absent. While attraction is understood, sexual chemistry is barely implied or acknowledged.

 

An Interesting Variation

Assortative mating “Indian style” is an interesting variation. Here we see the usual assortative dynamics of the match-making process superseded by the requisites of the culture itself. Assortative mating means sorting by caste, socioeconomic standing, religion, (they all overlap), and parental preference. Indian Matchmaking uses short-cut phrasing such as “family background” to capture all of this.

 

Power of Parental Choice

What stands out with Indian match-making is the immense power of parental choice (especially the mother) and the need to join two families in a marriage partnership. This has a long tradition in human cultures, especially with the merging of families of power or royalty. The influence of a 3,000-year Indian caste system is veiled but literally shows its “colors” on Indian Matchmaking. And the conversation about caste generated in response has powerfully dove-tailed into the current “awakening” of race in America. More on that later.

 

Major Sociological Themes in Indian Matchmaking

Here is the panoply of themes to be found in this “playful” reality TV show:

  • Generational divide – old world vs. new, parent vs. child
  • Tradition and/or modernity
  • India vs. the wider diaspora in the U.S. and Canada
  • Agency of adult children vs. paternalism
  • Influence of caste and colorism (shadeism)
  • Class, religion, and ancestral region (“family background”)
  • Female equality and aspirations
  • Destiny, fate, and influence of cosmological forces
Major Themes of Mate Selection in Indian Matchmaking (see definitions below)
  • Assortative mating
  • Trait preferences in a long-term mating strategy
  •  Mate value (especially physical attractiveness and “family background”)
  • Mate value trajectory
  • Mating economy and marketplace
  • Mating Intelligence or lack thereof
  • Mating pool

Time and space do not permit me to cover all of the above themes, but if you watch the show (again), look for these themes to increase your interest.

 

“Caste” of Indian Matchmaking

Indian Matchmaking compares and contrasts match-making inside of India vs. the United States. Here are the main characters:

  • Sima (Mumbai): Professional matchmaker. Hindu. (F)
  • Aparna (Houston): Lawyer. Hindu. Sindhi. (F)
  • Pradhyuman (Mumbai): Jeweler. Hindu. Marwari. (M)
  • Akshay (Mumbai): Businessman. Hindu. (M)
  • Nadia (New Jersey): Event Planner. Hindu. Guyanese. (F)
  • Vyasar (Austin): H.S. Counselor. Hindu. Kshatriya. (M)
  • Ankita (Delhi): Businesswoman. Hindu. Baniya. (F)
  • Rupam (Denver): Divorced mom. Sikh. (F)
  • Richa (San Diego): Unknown. (F)
Trait Preferences – An Indian Long-term Mating Strategy

Indian Matchmaking reveals and verifies tenets of male sex appeal and female sex appeal from an evolutionary perspective. Female clients (and especially their parents) are looking for a tall, ambitious “boy” who must make as much or more money than the woman, if she is working. Male clients (and especially their parents) are looking for a relatively tall, pretty, fair-skinned “girl” who has a pleasing and “flexible” personality.

As writer Sonia Saraiya noted in Vanity Fair, “matchmaking quite literally regulates reproduction by determining the bounds of their descendant’s gene pool. It diminishes the individual’s personal choice in favor of the collective stability.”

 

“The Boys Just Want Pretty Girls”

Indian Matchmaking has been criticized (see below) for its portrayal of the criteria of physical attractiveness in choosing a mate. This preference is a cultural universal, but we actually see quite a bit of flexibility shown by the show’s hopeful clients. Less so by their parents.

Ankita is told by her parents and others that “boys just want pretty girls.” The show seems to view this as shallow or at least unfortunate. Ankita jokes that she would like to find someone who looks like David Beckham or the Indian film star, Abhay Deol. To her credit, Ankita knows this is a severe “mate value mismatch” given her own level of physical beauty. (Sima describes Ankita to a fellow matchmaker saying “she is not photogenic.”) Ironically, we see Ankita in Delhi working with gorgeous female models to display and sell her garments.

Overall, the show does not focus on “pretty girls” or handsome men. Vyasar finds his matches to be pleasing even though they are quite overweight. His second match, Rashi, admits in one scene that “it takes a lot to make this look good. Beauty is pain.” Vyasar seems to unconsciously know his own mate value given his financial resources and level of physical fitness.

 

Beauty as Cultural Universal

Human beings share universal, hard-wired preferences for physical traits that are pleasing to the eye — traits we find sexually attractive and aesthetically pleasing, or “beautiful.” Beauty is highly prized in prospective mates because it is a proxy for reproductive fitness and genetic strength. It is more than mere aesthetics. Beauty is nature’s shorthand for health and fertility, for reproductive capacity — visual cues that a woman or man has the potential to bestow good genes on future generations. Attraction and beauty are mostly inseparable from each other and from sexual selection generally.

“Beauty may be in the eyes of the beholder, but those eyes, and the minds behind the eyes, have been shaped by millions of years of human evolution.” (David Buss, The Evolution of Desire, p. 53)

Ideal Beauty is Rare

It is notable that Indian Matchmaking has only one example of “ideal” female beauty. Pradhyuman takes fashion model and actress, Rushali (former Miss Delhi), riding at a horse stable. When he first sees her bio-data picture, he asks Sima, “why have I not seen someone like this before? Now you are on the right track.”

 

Mate Value

Finding a “workable” match with the highest mate value is the job of the matchmaker. Sima knew intuitively who rated a “5” and who rated a “9” or “10”. While considering the client’s and family’s desire for everything on the criteria list (the “best deal”), she had to start with the basics – a match “sorted” by physical attractiveness/stature, socioeconomic class, and caste background. In business decision-making, it is known that some criteria are more important (weighted) than others. So it is with human mating. Attractiveness for the women has a criteria weight that is 2-5 times greater than her career. For the man, his career and financial security are rated 2-5 times more than his personality or his physical appearance. “Chemistry” or “clicking” cannot be predicted absolutely and is part of match-making magic, or destiny in its most benevolent form.

 

Mate Value Trajectory

Most of the mate value matching attempts were sorted correctly by Sima. But there were a couple of mismatches because of the influence of poor mate value trajectory – a criterion applied almost exclusively to men.

Vyasar is an affable, engaging, sensitive person with great communication skills and a penchant for over-sharing early in the process (certainly early if this was a normal dating environment). He is a high school counselor and no doubt has the weakest financial and family profile of any of the male clients. While it starts out promising, there seem to be a host of incompatibilities with his first match, Manisha, who is a Research Health Analyst in North Carolina. Manisha finally admits to the deal-breaker: Vyasar’s poor mate value trajectory and ambition. “You can be a nice person, but that is not going to pay the bills five years from now.” Sima acknowledges on camera that Manisha “did not find Vyasar’s earnings sufficient.”

Aparna is hard to please almost to the point of satire. Her mother not only wanted her to have three degrees but tells Sima that money is not secondary for her prospective mate; the man must not be less successful than her. We come to know the degree to which Aparna has been conditioned for achievement by her mother and has “inherited” her mother’s failed-marriage trauma. She sees her mother every day. Aparna has a good date (especially for her) with a guy named Srini. He is very affable and articulate, a public speaker and author of three books. But Srini admits to financial insecurity and lack of clarity about what happens next in his career. Aparna immediately glazes over. No trajectory. Srini is seen as a loser. Aparna jettisons him quicker than you can say “Bollywood.”

 

Mating Pool

The entire enterprise of match-making in desi communities is affected by a restricted dating pool. Aparna acknowledges this directly (she is, if nothing else, rational) referring to her age in the first episode: “At 34, there is not a huge pool for me.” The pool is even more restricted for Rupam who is divorced with a daughter. This is “two strikes” in any dating scenario, let alone a culture where divorce is historically frowned upon. Sima knows it will be tough to find her a match. Rupam ultimately finds another Sikh man on Bumble.

 

Mating Intelligence (MI)

Vyasar says he “does not know how to make romance.” Although he has preoccupations of a quintessential “beta male” (dungeons and dragons among them), he actually is quite romantic and has a fair amount of mating intelligence. But he does lack confidence – the most important MI trait for a man.

Akshay is quite deficient in MI. He has never really had a girlfriend and is probably a 25-year-old virgin. That apparently is a possibility even for a successful urban millennial male in India. One culture writer even ventured that Akshay is actually in love with his cousin Mansha, who gets quite a bit of screen time.

Sex?

It is worth noting (again) that sex and sexual experience is nearly absent on this show. The astrologer brings it up once, as does the life coach. It seems this topic is mostly “undiscussable.” One or two of the older, arranged-married couples playfully allude to sex.

Then there is Nadia and Vinay. She goes out with him six or seven times. What was their sexual connection? He “ghosts” her for dubious reasons, although that seems to be a source of ongoing debate, post-production. Nadia is the “full package.” She has an adorable personality, infectious laugh, and is very pretty. And she is Guyanese. Hmm. We are left to wonder about caste, but mostly in this case, about sexual chemistry inside the Indian match-making equation.

 

Female Equality, Agency, and Aspirations – Modernity Faces Paternalism

Anna Purna Kambhampaty reported (Time, July 24, 2020) that “approximately 90% of all Indian marriages [in India] are arranged. About 74% of Indians between the ages of 18 and 35 prefer it that way.” Yet, there are a few intersecting sociological issues revealed in Indian Matchmaking:

  • Tension between the traditions of older Indians and the desi community, versus the perspectives and needs of their more modern, adult children.
  • The apparent paternalism of the Indian family structure and its effect on the agency and choices of their adult children.
  • Equality, independence, and empowerment of Indian and desi women and how they navigate the expectations for marriage held by their families and community.
Go Ankita!

In Indian Matchmaking, Ankita holds the vision of female empowerment inside of India, but she also struggles to stay connected to her family. “Just because you are independent does not make you non-marriageable, or stubborn, or arrogant,” she says. “I do not need a man’s support.” And yet, Ankita still lives with her family in Delhi. Her father describes her as ahead of her time but later agrees with his wife that Ankita is rebellious.

Ankita has strong commitment to her career but wants a relationship, at least in the beginning of the show. She joked to friends about the match-making process: “This is like Tinder premium, but the family is involved. Families also have to swipe right.” Sima cautions, “things don’t work out without the guidance from the parents.”

 

Aspirations and Real Choice?

Indian women have aspirations but the match-making process and family involvement seem to mitigate against real choice. Sima says more than once, “in India nowadays, the boy and girl can refuse. They have full freedom.” Really? The language of paternalism is always present – the words “boy”, “girl”, and “auntie” (Sima).

An opening vignette of an older arranged-married couple complains that “girls are so independent; boys want their wife to be submissive.” Ironically, in most of these older couples the woman does most of the talking. One husband underscores a well-worn cliché: “happy wife, happy life.”

 

Overbearing is an Understatement

The archetypal overbearing Indian mother is Akshay’s mother, Preeti. Preeti says the “girl” must be flexible and adjust in order to join her family and her home. Under tremendous pressure from Preeti, Akshay almost marries the “Udaipur girl,” Radhika, who hardly said a word when they were together with the parents. However, when alone with Akshay, she said she wanted to be a working woman. Akshay thought he wanted a women who was also modern, but on this issue, he opined: “I don’t think she is enough like my mother.”

 

Negative but (mostly) Her Own Agent

Aparna was portrayed as “Ms. Negativity” with absolutely no intention to “improve” for any man. She famously said after one date: “It’s a big deal that I don’t hate him.” Sima retorts: “I think she has a block in her energy.” The astrologer said Aparna was “fickle-minded” and “rude in speech.” I found her redeemable and interesting. And she has had defenders (nearly all women) in the social media sphere. She too is seen as exhibiting female aspiration and agency in spades. Aparna has started a travel business as a side hustle called  My Golden Balloon, which should improve her outlook.

 

“Caste-ing” Aspersions – Indian-American (Women) Thought Leaders

Since its debut, Indian Matchmaking has drawn criticism from Indian and U.S. media for sidestepping issues of colorism, dowry, sexism, body shaming, and caste. The strongest voices have come from female writers in the desi community.

 

The Atlantic (Culture) — Yashica Dutt

Yashica Dutt, writing for The Atlantic, said “caste appears on almost every criteria list that the marriage hopefuls lay out. By coding cast in harmless phrases such as ‘similar background’, ‘shared communities’, and ‘respectable families’, the show does exactly what upper-caste Indian families tend to do when discussing this fraught subject: it makes caste invisible.”

“The caste system is an active form of discrimination that persists in India and within the Indian American diaspora.” Dutt criticized Indian Matchmaking for not portraying couples who identify as Muslim, Christian, or Dalit — communities that represent 40 percent of India’s 1 billion-plus population.

 

Sanjena Sathian — New York Times

Sanjena Sathian takes a hard look at the show’s idea of “adjustment” for brides-to-be.  “The show asks us to consider whether adjustment connotes open-mindedness or gender imbalance. The unsettling answer seems to be that it’s both.”

 

Sonia Saraiya — Vanity Fair

Sonia Saraiya reports that India’s National Family Health Survey (2005) found 37 percent of women in India had experienced some kind of physical or sexual abuse. She says women are often cut off from access to household funds. She says Indian marriages are frequently unhappy and unequal. On a personal note she concludes: “the price of belonging to an Indian culture is to leave some of your individuality behind – and for me at least, it was a price I was not willing to pay.”

 

Scaachi Koul — Buzz Feed News

Koul says the representation from Indian Matchmaking isn’t wrong, it’s’ just one version of the story. “These stories are always about middle-class, or outright rich people, Brahmin Hindus, the people who live in big cities like Mumbai and Delhi. I don’t feel burdened by my South Asian identity, by my family’s often archaic and frustrating rules, or by my big nose and consonant-heavy name. Rather, I feel burdened by the white supremacy that taught me not to go into the sun lest I get dark and by the sexism my father showed when he wanted me to get an arranged marriage.”

 

Mallika Rao – Vulture

“Hindus are largely casteist. Much of India, today, leans Hindu supremacist. Marriage is a business and a game, whether in India or America, and grotesque from many angles.”

 

In America: “Caste is the Bones, Race the Skin”

In her recently published book, Caste: the Origins of Our Discontents, Isabel Wilkerson asserts that the Indian system of caste hierarchy explains more about the racial divide in America than does the idea of race alone. “Race, in the United States, is the visible agent of the unseen force of caste. Caste is the bones, race the skin.” Reviewing the book in The New Yorker, Indian scholar Sunil Khilnani writes: “Underlying and predating racism, and holding white supremacy in place, is a system of social domination: a caste structure that uses neutral human differences, skin color among them, as the basis for ranking human value.” Wilkerson says a caste system tends to promote dehumanization and stigmatization of lower castes and a belief in the superiority of the dominant caste.

 

Revisiting the Taj Mahal

Indian Matchmaking did not start the discussion about caste but it has given it resonance. A cringe-worthy reality show on Netflix about choosing mates has played a part in getting our attention to face the human predilection for hierarchy and the way to get past it. Creator of the show, Smriti Mundhra, said she hoped the show “will spark a lot of conversation that all of us need to be having in the South Asian community with our families – that it’ll be a jumping-off point for reflections about the things we prioritize and the things we internalize.”

There does seem to be a convergence of new awareness in the mind of American and Indian viewers. Certainly, the conversation about caste in America is just beginning.

Endogenous marriage is not the worst societal outcome of the caste system, but there must be a sweet spot for South Asian women that includes modern expressions of power and influence, while also holding respect for traditional culture. Ankita is the heroine carrying the torch for modern womanhood, especially inside India. “It is time to be equal,” says Ankita.

Just ask Mumtaz Mahal. You know where to find her.

 

Appendix: Definitions relevant to Indian Matchmaking

Most of the definitions below come from the Terms & Definitions section of Matingstraighttalk.com.

cultural universals
Cultural universals are evolutionary processes of sexual selection and natural selection that appear with little variation in any and all human cultures, past or present. Known also as “human universals,” cultural universals are behavior traits that are universal across human populations.

desi
A person born or living in another country whose ancestry is from India, Pakistan, or Bangladesh.

diasporic community
A widely dispersed community as a result of a natural disaster, politics, etc. Diaspora – a dispersion of people from their original homeland or the community formed by those people.

long-term mating strategy
Mating strategy to attract a mate to ensure sexual access and fidelity (especially for men) and the provision of resources and protection of children over time (especial for women.) A long-term strategy is predominant for women and forms the basis of our ancient pair-bond and tendency toward a monogamous (albeit serial) human culture.

mating economy/marketplace
Interaction between mating strategies of men and women given their individual mate value, mating priorities, trade-offs, and conditions/sex ratio of the local mating environment. Subject to a “collision” between a woman’s long-term strategy and a man’s short-term mating strategy, the mating marketplace commonly “sorts” by similarities (see assortative mating).

mating intelligence
Entire set of universal cognitive processes (mating mechanisms) that underlie human mating psychology: assessing one’s mate value and the mate value of others, modifying one’s mating behavior as a function of ecological conditions, displaying one’s self in an attractive manner, assessing the mate relevant thoughts of a potential partner and discriminating dishonest mating signals from honest ones. Mating intelligence also includes (more recently in EP) individual differences in creativity (courtship display mechanisms) such as musical ability, artistic ability and sense of humor.

mating pool
Available, “suitable” mates (by standards of similarity; equal mate value or above) in the local, proximate physical environment and/or in the digital environment that can be reliably accessed.

mate value
Degree of attractiveness a person embodies as perceived by potential mates, relative to the local mating pool. Men with resources, status and larger physical attributes (height and v-torso) have greater mate value than men who are less successful and smaller. Women who are physically beautiful (signaling fertility) have greater mate value than average looking women. Creativity, humor, generosity, and intelligence also influence value attributions. Mate value rankings of 1-10 are in colloquial usage with moderate reliably and agreement. Mate value drives the initial mate selection process.

mate value mismatch
Usually a temporary condition of unsuccessful courtship behavior. When a person (most commonly a man) romantically pursues another person who has significantly higher mate value. A mating strategy that is strategically and evolutionarily unsustainable.

mate value trajectory
Assessment of future mate value, most commonly made by a woman about a man, given his socio-economic family background, education, career track, education, and traits of industriousness and ambition.

paternalism
The policy or practices by people in positions of authority that restrict the freedom and responsibilities of subordinates supposedly in the subordinate’s best interest.

short-term mating strategy
As an evolutionary adaptation, men’s short-term mating strategy seeks more immediate sexual access and variety of partners to garner genetic fecundity. Men’s short-term strategy is more predominant than men’s long-term strategy but the difference is less pronounced behaviorally in modern times. A woman’s short-term strategy seeks short-term mating in order to secure resources for survival and higher quality genes to pass on to potential offspring. A woman’s short-term strategy is decidedly less predominant than her long-term strategy.

Photo Credit: shalender kumar from Pixabay 

Please Note: Your comment may take up to 12 seconds to register and the confirmation message will appear above the “Submit a Comment” text. 

Double Bind Dilemmas for Women in Leadership

Double Bind Dilemmas for Women in Leadership

by | Jul 27, 2020 | Gender Politics, Women's Issues

On July 20, Republican Representative Ted Yoho called Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez “disgusting” and a “fucking bitch” on the steps of the U.S. Capitol. Ocasio-Cortez eloquently rebutted Yoho on the House floor saying, “This issue is not about one incident. This is not new. And that is the problem. It is cultural. It is a culture of lack of impunity, of accepting violence and violent language against women and an entire structure of power than supports that.”

When Carol Moseley-Braun was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1992, she was the first female African American senator. As she recounted to listeners of NPR’s Hidden Brain in 2016, Braun assumed that racism would be a more formidable obstacle to her success as a U.S. Senator than gender bias. But that is not what happened.

When Braun made impassioned pleas on the floor of the Senate supporting her positions for voting rights and gun control (to name a few), all her male colleagues heard was the voice of a shrill black woman — at least that was the disappointing and humiliating narrative Braun felt in her soul.

“I think in some regards the gender biases are more profound and more central to our culture than even the racial ones, and that to me was a surprise,” she said.

Damned if You Do, Damned (or doomed) if you Don’t

I have described potential double binds in the context of women’s mating strategies in Double Binds Imposed on Men.

But what about the double binds that women face?

Women face double binds that involve the biological, evolutionary, and cultural application of mate selection and relationship dynamics. (See chart at end of post.) I will address them another time. For now – let’s address a pressing concern: There are double binds facing women in American leadership.

Caution Ahead

Braun’s experience was a cautionary tale. Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential candidacy appeared to underscore the problem. Leaders must sometimes be strong, tough, assertive, and decisive. Yet women leaders are expected to be accommodating and likable (even sweet), and never shrill, abrasive, or angry. This is an untenable dilemma.

The double bind that challenges women in political and corporate leadership affects all of us. It not only impedes the advancement and service of individual women, but it also reduces our nation’s capacity for problem-solving, policymaking, and innovation. Women leaders in politics and business bring sensitivities, interests, and emotional intelligence that improve our decision-making and enhances our health and cultural well-being.

There are evolutionary roots to this double bind. They include sex differences, preferences for spheres of influence (group systems vs. family), and adaptations for the division of labor.1 But we can and must move beyond the “shadow” of our evolutionary causations in order to secure the future health of American democracy.

 

Biases that Women Face – Embedded Societal Expectations

A Pew Research Center study (2017) asked people: “what traits or characteristics do you think society values most in women and in men?” Respondents said men were valued (in rank order) for their honesty and morality (33%), professional and financial success (23%), ambition and leadership (19%), strength and toughness (19%), hard work (18%), and physical attractiveness (11%). Women were valued for their physical attractiveness (35%), empathy, nurturing and kindness (30%), intelligence (22%), honesty and morality (14%), ambition and leadership (9%), and only 5% for strength and toughness. Notably, when asked what trait women should not have, 28% of respondents mentioned traits related to ambition, leadership and assertiveness, far more than any other trait or characteristic.

These are very strong headwaters of bias to swim against for women aspiring to and serving in leadership roles.

 

Research on Gender Stereotypes

Research by Madeline Heilman (Professor of Psychology, New York University) focuses on gender stereotypes and bias, particularly when it comes to leadership. In one study, Heilman asked volunteers to evaluate a high-powered manager who was coming into a company. When the candidate was presented as a very ambitious and high-powered women, the person was seen as unlikeable; but not so when the very same person was presented as a man. Heilman says “we have conceptions about these jobs and these positions and what is required to do them well, and there’s a lack of fit between how we see women and what these positions require.” Double binds arise in our minds because our minds are trying to align our stereotypes about men and women with our stereotypes about leadership.

These biases are not just held by men. They are held by both sexes, which explains why female leaders encounter derision and suspicion from both men and women.

 

Gender Attributions about Emotions

Researcher Lisa Feldman-Barrett at Northeastern University (How Emotions Are Made, 2017) had subjects look at faces of men and women and assess their emotions and the context of that emotion. When looking at male faces expressing emotion, respondents said the man was just having a bad day – or something bad had happened to him. Whereas, when women expressed emotion, they were described as neurotic or unstable. Men’s emotions were attributed to what was going on around them, but women’s emotions were seen as shaped “by their nature.”

Feldman-Barrett found that if women expressed too much emotion, they were seen as unsuitable for leadership or unstable in some way. Emotional men were seen as mostly rational or level-headed. But if a woman did not express enough emotion, they were seen as not warm, empathetic, or trustworthy (the “Hillary effect”). Apparently, a woman can get in trouble for expressing emotion and for not expressing emotion. This is a toxic double bind.

 

“Women Take Care and Men Take Charge” — Redefining Leadership Itself

Although the Pew survey results align with an understanding of biological sex differences and mate selection trait preferences, what is “natural” is not necessarily good for us. Even if gender stereotypes have a deep evolutionary past, they cause no win-situations for women leaders in our present-day politics, and that hurts all of us.

“The female gender role is based on the stereotype that women are nice and kind and compassionate,” says social psychologist, Alice Eagly (Through the Labyrinth: The Truth About How Women Become Leaders, 2007). By contrast, “in a leadership role, one is expected to take charge and sometimes demonstrate toughness – make tough decisions and be assertive in moving the organization forward, and sometimes fire people for cause.” The good news, says Eagly, is that our views of men and women are changing, and our ideas about the meaning of leadership are changing.

Indeed, it is time to redefine what it means to be a leader in the American political arena. The less we see leaders as alpha males, the easier it will be to see women as leaders. Fortunately, that redefinition has been going on in the corporate world for many years.

 

Three Predicaments

Catalyst2 is an organization that supports “workplaces that work for women.” They have identified three “predicaments” (double bind dilemmas) that women leaders face:

1. Extreme perceptions: too soft, too tough, and never just right. When women act in ways that are consistent with gender stereotypes, they are viewed as less competent leaders (too soft). When women act in ways that are inconsistent with such stereotypes, they’re considered unfeminine (too tough).

2. High competence threshold: Women leaders face higher standards and lower rewards than male leaders. Women have to prove they can lead over and over again and constantly manage stereotypical expectations.

3. Competent but disliked: Women leaders are perceived as competent or likable, but rarely both.

 

The Hillary Trifecta

Hillary Clinton embodied all three predicaments. She was seen as shrill, cold, and not emotional. (But not in private.) The standards for judging her performance as Senator and Secretary of State were always very high. And her competence, while arguably beyond reproach, made her somehow unlikeable. From the seven-minute standing ovation she received as the first student to speak at a Wellesley College commencement, Hillary had the additional problem of being one of the first women of her generation to break with the traditional role of wife. She was the first First Lady to have an office in the West Wing of the White House.

 

Strategies to Dismantle the Leadership Double Bind

Catalyst suggests three strategies for dismantling the women’s leadership double bind:

1. Interrupt bias. Speak up if you hear colleagues use words that reinforce negative gender stereotypes such as, “she is abrasive”,” “she is so emotional,” or “she talks too much.” Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez spoke up.

2. Use the same standard for women and men when evaluating employees. Reverse the gender of the person you are evaluating to see if it makes a difference in your language or assessment.

3. Be a visible champion. Promote the accomplishments of women and actively advocate for their development and advancement, thus serving as a role model for others to do the same.

 

Redefining Leadership is Actually Old News

The field of organizational development has been redefining leadership for 50 years. Beginning in 1970 with the ground-breaking Center for Creative Leadership, the field gained momentum with such landmark books (and practices) as Peter Senge’s The Fifth Discipline (1990), Roger Schwartz’ The Skilled Facilitator (1994), and William Isaacs’ Dialogue and the Art of Thinking Together (1999). The science and art of participatory decision making and teamwork has been clear in its message: the process of generating information and making decisions (process leadership) are as important as content, task, or subject matter expertise. Women arguably have a more natural affinity (both interest and skill) for process leadership than do men. It is, of course, totally within the capacity of men to do this. I certainly did in my career as a facilitator and group process designer.

 

Busting the Double Bind Paradigm

A Zen master says to his pupils: “If you say this stick is real, I will beat you. If you say this stick is not real, I will beat you. If you say nothing, I will beat you.” One pupil, however, found a solution by changing the level of communication. He walked up to the teacher, grabbed the stick, and broke it.

A redefinition of leadership includes (as in the practice of process facilitation) a redefinition of the double bind itself. A double bind is built inside a box of “either/or” thinking. Collaboration is built on “both/and” thinking. There is an entire discipline of problem-solving and thinking skills for generating collaboration and consensus. As a fun warm-up, organizational development consultants sometimes facilitate comedy improv exercises to practice a variant, “yes/and” thinking. Can we get Mitch McConnell and his buddies into a month-long retreat?

 

Interdependent Polarities

A double bind can often be seen as an interdependent polarity.3 There is a sweet spot between likable and strong, in a “dance” of situation and context. Whereas men tend (on average) to be more binary thinkers, women (on average) are good at “both/and” thinking if left to their own devices. Organizational consultant Tim Arnold (The Power of Healthy Tension: Overcoming Chronic Issues and Conflicting Values, 2017) encourages leaders to embrace a healthy “tension.” Perhaps double binds are not a problem to solve but instead a tension or paradox to manage.

 

Signs of Progress – Membership Has its Privileges

The 116th U.S. Congress (2019-2021) has 127 women (23.7 percent) — the highest percentage ever. But less than 1 in 4 women lawmakers does not make new a political “culture.”

The New York Times recently addressed the seven biases that women face: “In Her Words: 7 Issues, 7 Days.” “Women in Politics” (day 6) noted that in 2019, Nevada became the first state legislature to have more women — 23 out of 42 seats in the Assembly. Women make up 40 percent or more of the legislatures in Colorado, Oregon, Washington, and Vermont, with Maryland almost at that percentage. A balance of more women in political leadership should help reduce the prevalence and toxicity of double binds that women face.

 

Beyond the “Pantsuit”

A year after Braun was elected to the U.S. Senate, she and Senator Barbara Mikulski broke the unwritten rule that women were not allowed to wear pants on the Senate floor. In what she calls the “pantsuit episode,” Braun explained: “I was wearing my nice outfit, I thought, and I walked onto the Senate floor and gasps were audible.” That was in 1993 – only 23 hears before Hillary Clinton would become the first female presidential nominee for a major political party, pantsuits and all. Leadership had a new look. But biases and double binds? Not so much. We still have work to do.

1. Gender/sex-based spheres of influence and the development of human culture is a very important area of focus and will be explored more in this space at a later time.

2. Founded in 1962, Catalyst is a leading research and advisory organization that works with business and professions to build inclusive environments and expand opportunities for women at work using practical tools and proven solutions to advance women into leadership.

3. There is much more to be said about interdependent polarities in relationships (and not just heterosexual relationships). As explored by Esther Perel and others, here are some key polarities: predictability vs. novelty, security vs. adventure, autonomy vs. surrender, comfort vs. excitement, and freedom vs. commitment.

Please Note: Your comment may take up to 12 seconds to register and the confirmation message will appear above the “Submit a Comment” text. 

Origins of Mating Straight Talk – Reasons and Reflections

Origins of Mating Straight Talk – Reasons and Reflections

by | Jul 14, 2020 | Steven's Story

The Sleeping Lord of Manhood

“Look at me. I am a male human being. I came from Woman…the origin of my life, the source of all nourishment, support, safety, and love. I am a male human being. I cannot emulate the Woman-Source to find who I am. I have no choice but to turn my back to Her. My maleness wears separation like a scarlet letter. I am different …but what am I?

This search hurts a lot. Do you know? Will you try to understand? God does not demonstrate in my body. Newborn life does not come out of me! I am asked to manipulate the natural world and join other men to fight over finite pieces of Earth. Woman is Earth! But what am I?

It is said there is an infinite supply of love. But there is not an infinite supply of Earth. I want my share of Earth. I want my share of Woman returned to my body! Is it enough for you if I just Be? All this striving, striving, to build your nest….it makes me so weary. I try to construct your pedestal. My body becomes rigid and dead under the weight of it.

And now, you have your groups and your rituals. Feminine manifestation is easy to see and understand…. and you recognize one another. But where is the Sleeping Lord of Manhood? Only a few of my brothers even ask this question. I find most men drunk on acquisition. They report that partitioning the Earth and creating false needs is very sexy. I don’t belong to their club any more than I belong to yours.

Listen to me. The patriarch is a shell of a human being. I am a male human being unlike most of my brothers and I want your acknowledgment and support. If I discover a new kind of male power, will you honor it, will you desire it, will you desire me?! Or will you only notice the amount of security available for your archetypal child?

Admittedly, I speak from a particular and personal psychological context. For the time being, spare me your spiritual teachings, spare me your list of exceptions. I expose my projections. I expose my sour grapes. I expose my battle with the “laws of prosperity.” Just hear me out and be honest. It is time for women to tell the truth. It is time for women to look at men in a new way…..for the Earth calls out to you, to its own kind, to welcome the awakening of the Sleeping Lord.” 

~ Steven Fearing (May 1985)

 

The Jung and the Restless

The Sleeping Lord of Manhood was written 35 years ago. I was a young man, an aspirant for an unfolding new world — carrying the dreams (albeit pipe dreams in the near term) of cultural transformation birthed in the late ’60s and ’70s. I was attempting to integrate the teachings and “spiritual” impulses of the human potential movement, the explosion of body-mind therapies, and the profound resonance of my humanistic psychology graduate program. (A program developed by a colleague of Abraham Maslow.) I could still hear the echoes of Joni Mitchel from the human potential “Mecca” — the front porch of the Esalen Institute and the land of Big Sur, California. Joni pleaded, “we’ve got to get ourselves back to the garden.” And we are still trying to do that.

The Sleeping Lord was a personal journal musing, perhaps indulgent and naively “self-important.” Yet, it revisited an ancient question of metaphysical and biological essentialism: what is the primary essence of a male human being? The Sleeping Lord was written in the time of Ronald Reagan’s America; the hopes of structural change engendered by the human potential movement seemed to be dimming. I searched for meaning as the fledgling men’s movement awaited Robert Bly’s Iron John: A Book About Men (1990) and the men’s mythopoetic movement. This version of the New Age men’s movement largely sought meaning through ideas from Jungian psychology and Jungian archetypes – the King, the Warrior, the Magician, the Lover. Many men were lost, and for good reason. The “old masculine” — the stoic, self-controlled, body-armored, emotionally reticent patriarch, seemed done, finished, and not desirable. What the hell was next for men? I was mostly on the side-lines, but succumbed to the search for male initiation, the “Father,” and the “deep masculine” or inner self. Initiation into manhood was a central deficit and wound for boys in modern America. (Arguably, the plight of boys and men in 2020 has gotten worse.) My Father, Frederick Nelson Fearing, was a lovely man of little means and a lot of unexpressed emotional depth. He had much pain and guilt from a failed (and quite undiscussable) earlier marriage, and a failed marriage with my mother. I was not properly initiated into Manhood, or so it felt in 1985.

A Hero’s Journey

The “Hero’s Journey” – a search for noble masculinity in the ‘80s, was an attempt to ease the soul, or find the soul, of men who were (to use a phrase poetically delivered by Jean Houston), “between dreams” of the old and “new male”. Feminism and feminist voices were in full throttle and criticized the men’s movement with a direct assault – born of a misunderstanding of the movement’s inherent focus on psychological work, and it’s supposed lack of attention to issues of political power. In reality, these particular men were nearly 100 percent behind all empowerment positions of the women’s movement, and still are. (The feminist/academic assault on contemporary expressions of men’s rights is a part, albeit a small part, of what Mating Straight Talk will explore going forward.)

Disappointment and Feeling Betrayed

Ultimately, what was revealed (it seemed to me), unspoken but acted upon, was that the “old male” was still very much desired by women for the security they delivered. And the original men’s movement faded over time from the weight of men’s disinterest and the structural intrasexual competitiveness between men. For heterosexual men at least, women remained the priority. The fledgling “soft male” was not as unmoored as depicted in the media, but he brought mostly disadvantages to the mating game. My keen interest in evolutionary psychology and mate selection science was born out of these conditions.

Time to Get It Out

Mating Straight Talk is an important narrative in my life story. (Not the only one by any means.) I have cataloged and collated thousands of pages of articles and research, written many words, and read dozens of books on a broad range of topics related to evolutionary psychology, relationships, and sexuality. Before I wrote The Sleeping Lord of Manhood, I designed and facilitated a workshop, “Intimacy as a Path to Wholeness,” based on the work of Susan Campbell’s The Couples Journey. In 1991, I sponsored a workshop, “Sex and Power in the Workplace” (prescient of things to come) at the University of Texas Graduate School of Business. Recently, I designed and delivered experiential workshops for male-female disclosure. This website, at launch, is but a fraction of what I want to say. As the “About” page might suggest, I have a long list of blog topics in the queue. But this is also a conversation with the reader. I hope to engage and learn from others. And the relationship-sex-love-gender conversation keeps evolving with more speed than ever.

Why I Created this Website and Blog (also see About):
  • There is a conversation happening about sexuality, relationships, and the politics of gender, and I want to join it; I want to lead some of it.
  • I have a fairly unique “voice” to share with the world. I am a political progressive, post-new-age-sensitive-guy, heterosexual, humanistic “psychologist” who wishes to promote (among many other things) understanding and respect for male sexuality and male stewardship of the planet beyond memes of toxicity, and do so outside of strident positions and speech of the so-called “manosphere.”
  • I blog to legitimize the science of sexuality, relationships, and especially mate selection in humans. I blog and have a website to defend evolutionary psychology.
  • I have a website and blog in order to explore the evidence of evolved behavioral differences between men and women.
  • I blog and have a website in order to be a “truth-teller” – to bring a dose of honesty about our mating behavior and decision-making; to combat mistruths and political correctness, and expose the collusion of deceit held by men and women about mate selection and the mating economy, and share observations about the “gravitational forces” of money and physical attractiveness from an evolutionary and modern perspective.
  • I blog to share my observations about unexamined misandry and the failure to apply issues of socio-economic class and intersectionality perspectives to white men. I will promote a balanced, rational approach to “being woke” while my athleticism allows me to dodge incoming rotten tomatoes.
  • I blog to promote “power equity” between the genders, acknowledge that equity is not “sameness,” and encourage my audience to become friendly (like “blending” in aikido) with the underpinnings of biological hardwiring.
  • The counselor/therapist in me wants to explore the intersection or integration of evolutionary psychology with couple’s psychotherapy and sex therapy/sex education.
  • Blogging and this website help me discover and understand myself and consolidate a large part of my life’s work.
Who Cares?

In all of this, I am curious to discover who will be interested. Those in long-term companionate partnerships may think this website has little to offer them. Yet there may be some useful, practical insights for those not officially in the mating economy. Those privileged in the mating game (as with most elements of privilege) are not excited to listen or talk about mate selection. I hope to engage with them anyway. And defending the truth of evolved behavior sex differences is generally out of touch with the current feminist zeitgeist and not attractive to most women. That tends to create silence and avoidance by me and other men. For a heterosexual man, the need to connect with women is an intractable imperative. (As a “courtship display,” this website/blog is mostly stupid.) I want to hear from women – what is your experience? And, I definitely want to hear from relationship/psychotherapy professionals and folks in the field of evolutionary psychology.

The Heart of the Matter

MatingStraightTalk.com has finally launched. And now I am suffering from diastolic heart dysfunction. Seems I literally have a broken heart. The contents of this website are somewhat related to my story of a broken heart in the conventional sense of romantic disappointments, loss, and pain in the mating game, although I have had a few stable, relatively long-term relationships. My experience of relationship disappointment (finding a true partner) is admittedly a catalyst, but my attempt here is to deliver the science, “the why” of human mating behavior. I want to deliver insights that may assist others who feel confused, alone, or ashamed. I could outline the actual science about romantic heartbreak and how the absence of partnership affects health issues and longevity, but I will leave that for another time; suffice to say, they are connected, especially for men.

More than a Little Help from My Friend

At times, I have been overwhelmed by the depth and complexity of the content and by the technical issues that plagued the execution of this site. It has not been good for my heart, and yet I could not let it go. With the help of my dear friend Tom Carroll, I persevered. My debt to Tom is incalculable. Tom kept me going with his technical skills, creative brilliance, natural curiosity, childlike excitement, and support.

Going Forward

One of the true loves of my life, Jodi, met me in 2010 when I was successfully dealing with heart-related A-fib. She said, “I can’t date you if you’re dead.” So true. I hope to survive diastolic heart dysfunction* long enough to get most of my story and thoughts into this blog — into “Steven’s Stories” and the other nine blog categories.

Years ago, I created a “Sleeping Lord of Manhood” album-cover with song titles that marked significant life events and challenging conditions that shaped me. Each song is a story perhaps worth telling (another time). There is also an “album” of stories more aligned with the pursuit and science of happiness, excerpted from my writings on the “Seven Domains of Well-being.” Taking a cue from the ancient Greeks, I will uncover the “True,” the “Beautiful,” “the Good,” and “the Pleasurable.” There may be a few stories about my family: “Kansas City Home,” “Brothers Four,” “Beary-Bowl Bred,” and “Jayhawk Nation.” (These song titles only make sense to family and close friends.) Ultimately, the focus of “Steven’s Stories” will be less about the past and more about the present. But here’s a loving peek at (my) youthful “Brothers Four” – from left: Max, Me, David, and Greg. The Sleeping Lord of Manhood shows up and calls forth.

Picture of Steven and brothers

Thanks for reading this long post!

Steven

*I am quite optimistic about healing my heart physically through renewed (post-COVID) fitness and a functional medicine protocol to fortify heart mitochondria.

A quick addendum:  My diastolic heart “dysfunction” was apparently healed by my aerobic regimen and other health protocols, or perhaps never really existed.  My follow-up echo in September showed no problem.  

 

Please Note: Your comment may take up to 12 seconds to register and the confirmation message will appear above the “Submit a Comment” text. 

Sex Can Be Funny – 50 Humorous Quotes, Volume 1

Sex Can Be Funny – 50 Humorous Quotes, Volume 1

by | Jun 30, 2020 | Humor

Yes, sex can be funny.  Stereotypes about men and women can be amusing.  Even relationship conflict can be (painfully) hilarious.  Anything with a kernel of truth that resonates with your personal experience can be funny and bring a feeling of recognition and being understood.

Sex and romance have inspired humorous musings by writers, philosophers, artists and comedians throughout time.  The joy and agony of “love” have often been exalted or exorcised with comical observation.   Here are a few quips that might make you laugh or make you think.  We need this particular humor to survive our human condition – to recognize the differences between men and women and the universality of our quest for sexual fulfillment.  Mostly, we need to laugh at ourselves in order to survive the whole thing.

Note: Future blogs in this category will explore serious relationship topics in a humorous light and the importance of humor itself in the science of attraction and sex.  For now, let’s get the laugh reflex (or smile muscles) going with some funny observations and quotes.

50 Funny Quotes About Sex, Love, and Relationship (Volume 1):

  1. “There are a number of mechanical devices which increase sexual arousal, particularly in women. Chief among these is the Mercedes-Benz SL500.”  — Lynn Lavner
  2. “It isn’t premarital sex if you have no intention of getting married.” — George Burns
  3. “Women might be able to fake orgasms. But men can fake a whole relationship.”  — Sharon Stone
  4. “Clinton lied. A man might forget where he parks or where he lives, but he never forgets oral sex, no matter how bad it is.”  — Barbara Bush
  5. “Ah yes, divorce, from the Latin word meaning to rip out a man’s genitals through his wallet.” – Robin Williams
  6. “According to a new survey, women say they feel more comfortable undressing in front of men than they do undressing in front of other women. They say women are too judgmental where, of course, men are just grateful.” – Robert De Niro
  7. “There’s a new medical crisis. Doctors are reporting that many men are having allergic reactions to latex condoms.  They say they cause severe swelling.  So what’s the problem?”  – Dustin Hoffman
  8. “It’s been so long since I’ve had sex, I’ve forgotten who ties up whom.” – Joan Rivers
  9. “You don’t appreciate a lot of stuff in school until you get older. Little things like being spanked every day by a middle-aged woman. Stuff you pay good money for later in life.” — Emo Phillips
  10. “Bigamy is having one wife too many. Monogamy is the same.”  — Oscar Wilde
  11. “I was nauseous and tingly all over. I was either in love or I had smallpox.”  – Woody Allen
  12. “My heart’s in the right place. I know cuz I hid it there.”  — Carrie Fisher
  13. “You’d be surprised how much it costs to look this cheap.” – Dolly Parton
  14. “Good girls go to heaven and bad girls go everywhere.” – Helen Gurley Brown
  15. “A man who correctly guesses a woman’s age may be smart, but he is not very bright.” – Lucille Ball
  16. “Anyone who says he can see through women is missing a lot.” — Groucho Marx
  17. “It’s no good pretending than any relationship has a future if your record collections disagree violently or if your favorite films wouldn’t even speak to one another if they met at a party.” — Nick Hornby
  18. “Sex is one of the most wholesome, beautiful, and natural experiences that money can buy.” — Steve Martin
  19. “Sex without love is a meaningless experience, but as far as meaningless experiences go, it’s pretty damn good.” — Woody Allen
  20. “Sex is like air; it’s not important unless you aren’t getting any.” —  John Callahan
  21. “It’s not true that I had nothing on. I had the radio on.” – Marilyn Monroe
  22. “My wife and I were happy for 20 years – then we met.” — Rodney Dangerfield
  23. “I remember the first time I had sex. I kept the receipt.” – Groucho Marx
  24. “Women don’t want to hear what you think. Women want to hear what they think – in a deeper voice.” (source deleted)
  25. “We have reason to believe that man first walked upright to free his hands for masturbation.” – Lily Tomlin
  26. “What I really need is a woman who loves me for my money but doesn’t understand math.” – Mike Birbiglia
  27. “My best birth control now is just to leave the lights on.” — Joan Rivers
  28. “God gave me both a penis and a brain, but unfortunately not enough blood supply to run both at the same time.” — Robin Williams
  29. “Seems to me the basic conflict between men and women, sexually, is that men are like firemen. To men, sex is an emergency, and no matter what we’re doing we can be ready in two minutes.” – Jerry Seinfeld
  30. “I think we can all agree that sleeping around is a great way to meet people.” – Chelsea Handler
  31. “If we take matrimony at its lowest, we regard it as a sort of friendship recognized by the police.” – Robert Louis Stevenson
  32. “Marriage is a wonderful institution, but who wants to live in an institution?” — Groucho Marx
  33. “Some people ask the secret of our long marriage. We take time to go to a restaurant two times a week.  A little candlelight dinner, soft music and dancing.  She goes on Tuesdays, I go Fridays.” — Henny Youngman
  34. “Sex and pizza, they say, are similar. When it’s good, it’s good.  When it’s bad, you get it on your shirt.”  – Mike Birbiglia
  35. “Bisexuality immediately doubles your chances for a date on a Saturday night.” – Woody Allen
  36. “Never marry a man you wouldn’t want to be divorced from.” – Nora Ephron
  37. “There are only three things women need in life: food, water, and compliments.” – Chris Rock
  38. “A man can sleep around, no questions asked, but if a woman makes nineteen or twenty mistakes, she’s a tramp.” — Joan Rivers
  39. “Whoever named it necking was a poor judge of anatomy.” — Groucho Marx
  40. “Women have all the power because women have all the vaginas.” — Dave Attel

     

    From Why Men Don’t Listen and Women Don’t Read Maps by Allan and Barbara Pease

  41. “Once I didn’t talk to my wife for six months,” said the comedian. “I didn’t want to interrupt.
  42. “Men hate criticism – that’s why they like to marry virgins.”
  43. “Men give their penis a name because they don’t want a stranger making 99 percent of their decisions for them.”
  44. “You’re a lousy lover!” she said. “How can you tell in two minutes?” he asked.
  45. “Men prefer looks to brains because most men can see better than they can think.”
  46. “Men fantasize about having sex with two women. Women fantasize about it too – so they’ll have someone to talk to when he falls asleep.”
  47. “Men don’t fake orgasm – no man wants to make a face like that on purpose.”
  48. “Most women prefer sex with the lights out – they can’t bear to see a man enjoying himself.”
  49. “Ray plays his wedding video backward. He says it’s so he can see himself walk out of church a free man.”
  50. “Marriage has its good side. It teaches you loyalty, forbearance, tolerance, self-restraint, and other valuable qualities you wouldn’t need if you stayed single.”

Dear reader, keeping laughing at yourself.  That is actually sexy and good for your health.  Please send me your funny quips and quotes about sex and relationships.  I will give you credit, and we can increase the laughter for everyone in Volume 2. 

Thanks!

Please Note: Your comment may take up to 12 seconds to register and the confirmation message will appear above the “Submit a Comment” text. 

Spontaneous and Response Desire – the Underbelly of Heterosexual Mating

Spontaneous and Response Desire – the Underbelly of Heterosexual Mating

by | Jun 16, 2020 | Biological Difference, Dating & Mating Economy, Relationship Issues, Sexuality

 

John met Sarah at a happy-hour event. She was surrounded by a group of men, but John got some eye contact from her and shared a quick introduction and small talk.  It was apparent she was not “with” any of these men, although each one was interested in her.  John was enamored by Sarah’s bright eyes, her smile, her gestures, her voice – by everything about her. He felt compelled (an urgency in his body) to get a moment with her as she walked toward the door to depart.  He gave her his card.  (He knew that was lame.) Of course, she did not call him.  He saw her weeks later at the same event.  He asked for her number and declared his interest.  She said she “was not dating right now.” John expressed understanding and acceptance. But he did not really understand if Sarah was just not into him or if this was actually a “bad time” (whatever that meant) for her.  John had done his part to initiate but did not know Sarah’s “situation” or what she was actually thinking and feeling.  And he never would.

What Are ‘Spontaneous’ and ‘Response’ Desire?

“Spontaneous” and “response” desire are research terms related to the sexual psychology of men and women.  They reflect behavioral expressions of biological sex differences (hormones and brain), evolutionary mating strategies, sex “drive” differences, differences in sexual “context” setting, and functioning of the modern-day dating and mating economy.

When the spontaneous desire of men encounters the response desire of women, misunderstanding and frustration may ensue.  This blog explores research on sexual desire by Emily Nagoski* (Come As You Are, 2015) and is a companion to the blog post “Is Your Sexual Foot on The Accelerator or Brake?”   I will address issues of spontaneous vs. response desire related to long-term committed partners and supply and demand in the mating economy for initial mate selection and briefly return to John and Sarah before concluding.  But first, let’s revisit some of the science.

Sexual Excitation System (SES) and Sexual Inhibition System (SIS)

Emily Nagoski suggests both men and women have an excitation system (accelerator) and inhibition system (brake) for sexual activity.   She calls this the “dual control model.”  Think of this dual control as biological mechanisms for approach and avoidance.

Men Operate From Their Accelerator

Men operate primarily from their accelerator, or sexual excitation system (SES), constantly scanning the environment for anything sexually relevant.  The SES turns-on with anything a man sees (especially), hears, smells, tastes, or imagines.  The SES operates proactively — it approaches, pursues, and initiates spontaneously.

Women Are “Brake” Dominant

 The inhibition system or brake (SIS), in contrast to the SES, notices all potential threats in the environment and sends a signal to turn-off.  It is associated with fear of consequences and self-consciousness.  Women are decidedly SIS-dominant.  They respond to sexual opportunities only in the right context and when safety is assured.  They are quite content to rest in a cautious or neutral zone until the right stimulus is presented.  Out of sight, out of mind is the default position of response desire.

Spontaneous Desire is the Signature Feature of the Male Sex Drive

“Spontaneous desire” happens when the SES is fully activated.  The SES fuels spontaneous sexual pursuit with a sense of urgency and eagerness.   Male sexuality is “accelerator-dominant” and spontaneous by nature; it reacts, more than women, to sexually relevant stimuli independent of context and more commonly initiates.  Spontaneous desire is the signature feature of the male sex drive, fueled by testosterone and brain structures.  (See future blogs for further discussion of sex drive, sexual thoughts, and fantasies.)

When Arousal Meets a Great Context

“Response desire” occurs when one is willing to receive sexual interest although not initially feeling desire or sexual arousal.  The SES accelerator system is quiet; the SIS braking system is alert but not overly triggered. With sufficient sexual stimuli and appropriate context, response desire allows one (usually a woman) to move from a place of neutrality to being aroused and desirous of a sexual connection.   Because women are more “brake-dominant” in their sexual response, their desire more likely happens, in Nagoski’s words, “when [physiological] arousal meets a great context.”  For many women, subjective desire comes after physiological arousal, not before.  Rosemary Basson (author and Director of the University of British Columbia Sexual Medicine Program) says for many women, desire is not the cause of love-making, but rather the result.

Eighty-Five Percent of Women Are Response-Desire Dominant

According to Nagoski, 30 percent of women never experience spontaneous desire for sex, while 75 percent of men mostly experience spontaneous desire.   She says 55 percent of women experience a relative combination of spontaneous and response desire but ultimately concludes (Come As You Are, p. 307) that 85 percent of women are response-desire dominant.

Context Is Everything for Women

Nagoski says context for women is made of two things:  

1) the circumstances of the present moment – whom you are with, where you are, whether the situation is novel or familiar, risky or safe, and

2) a woman’s brain state in the present moment:  whether she is relaxed or stressed, trusting or not, loving or not, at that moment. 

“The evidence is mounting that women’s sexual response is more sensitive than men’s to context, including mood and relationship factors, and women vary more from each other in how much such factors influence their sexual response.”  (Come As You Are, p.  75).  For women, a great context can create subjective arousal; a bad context can prevent it entirely.

Desire Patterns in Long-term Relationships

The “collision” or “collaboration” of these two desire patterns can create interesting challenges in heterosexual sexual relating, especially in sustaining desire in long-term monogamous relationships.

For maintaining mutual desire in a long-term monogamous relationship, Esther Perel, (author of Mating in Captivity and leading expert in couple’s psychotherapy) recommends developing autonomy “inside of” the relationship in order to create a space for “wanting” what you don’t have.   John Gottman, in contrast, recommends (The Science of Trust) deepening intimacy as a doorway to the erotic life in a long-term monogamous relationship.   Perel says “build a bridge to cross” fueled by “wanting” and Gottman says “build a bridge together” fueled by “having.”

Increase Activation of Accelerator and Decrease Activation of the Brake

Nagoski says either of these strategies may accomplish the same overall goal:  increasing activation of the accelerator and decreasing activation of the brake.  The goal of both approaches is to sustain curiosity.  Perel suggests we sustain curiosity about our partner when we view them from a distance.  Gottman suggests we sustain curiosity about the nature of pleasure in the context of commitment.

Take Control of the Context

It is clear that passion does not happen automatically in a long-term relationship. But passion can happen if the couple takes deliberate control of their context.  Neither the strategy of distance nor the strategy of deepening intimacy by itself will nullify the foundational, biological difference between spontaneous male desire and response-oriented female desire.

Spontaneous and Response Desire in the Brain

Differences in brain structure between men and women relate to the spontaneous and response desire systems.  Men, in general, have a higher baseline of activity in the older part of the brain, the limbic system, which makes them particularly alert during the first stage of seduction, according to the renowned physician and author, Marianne Legato (Why Men Die First).

Area of Sexual Pursuit is 2.5 Times Larger In Males

The medial preoptic area (MPOA), found in the hypothalamus, is related to sexual pursuit and is 2.5 times larger in males, according to neuropsychiatrist, Louann Brizendine (The Male Brain).  Men also show greater activity in the visual cortex when perceiving erotic pictures, reflecting a gender-specific visual mechanism for sexual selection.

Female Amygdala and Cautious Sexual Response

The brain’s danger and alert system is the amygdala.  While larger in males, the female amygdala seems to be more sensitive to the fear of consequences, modulating a more cautious sexual response.

Fear of Punishment and Sexual Anxiety in the Female Brain

Another part of the brain, the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), creates a more response-dominant neurological foundation for women.  According to Brizendine, the ACC is the worrywart, fear-of-punishment area, and center of sexual performance anxiety.  It weighs options, detects conflicts, and motivates decisions.  The ACC is also the area for self-consciousness; the ACC is bigger in women.

Spontaneous and Response Desire is Predicted in Human Mating

The difference in male and female desire patterns is extremely relevant to the operation of the dating and mating economy.  Spontaneous desire and response desire are aligned with the short-term mating strategy of men, the long-term mating strategy of women (respectively), and the biological foundation of the sexual accelerator and brake.   Spontaneous desire for men and response desire for women are predicted by human mating strategies as defined in the fields of evolutionary psychology and biological science.

A man’s short-term mating strategy fuels desire for contact with women for any possible chance of a romantic or sexual encounter.   A women’s long-term strategy creates caution and selectivity in accepting male advances.  The reasons for this evolutionary adaptation are central tenets of mate selection science.   (See Human Mating Strategies and What is Mate Selection Science? pages.)

Supply and Demand of Spontaneous and Response Desire

Men (mostly) sell.  Women (mostly) buy.  In the human mating economy, the buyer (female chooser) significantly controls the marketplace; men spontaneously pursue, women respond when ready.  The difference between buyer and seller in the sexual marketplace determines motivation, behavior, and the experience of sexual scarcity or abundance.

Sex is (Relatively) an Abundant Resource for Women

Sex for most women (during their fertile years) is an abundant resource; it is not in short supply.  It is a need (subject to self-imposed selection preferences) that can almost always be met.  Therefore, there is no need to attend to it (out of sight, out of mind).  There is no need to respond to any particular man if conditions are not perfect and that man is not preferred (in that moment) over other men available in her dating pool.   At another moment in time, Sarah might respond to John. 

Conclusion

Sexual relating between men and women often hinges on the “dance” between spontaneous desire and response desire – the “undercurrents” of strategy and preference in dating and mating.   Desire patterns are biologically based with evolutionary roots (human mating adaptations for reproduction and survival of children).  Understanding sex differences in spontaneous and response desire is a pathway for awareness, empathy, and behavior change that will improve heterosexual relationships.

Notes

Emily Nagoski is the former Director of Wellness Education at Smith College where she taught Women’s Sexuality.  She is a respected author and expert in the field of sexuality — writing, speaking, and training internationally.

If you are tracking along with these blogs (in addition to reading pages on the main menus!), you will notice I have cited (so far) male-female differences related to:

  • subjective vs. physiological arousal,
  • sexual excitation vs. inhibition,
  • spontaneous vs. response desire,
  • sex “drive,” 
  • influence of situational context, and
  • overall mating strategies.

Please Note: Your comment may take up to 12 seconds to register and the confirmation message will appear above the “Submit a Comment” text. 

Is Your Sexual Foot on the Accelerator or Brake?

Is Your Sexual Foot on the Accelerator or Brake?

by | Jun 2, 2020 | Biological Difference, Relationship Issues, Sexuality, Women's Issues

Men and women are different. Their “sexual engine” makes different use of the accelerator and brake. Author, sex researcher, and professor of women’s sexuality, Emily Nagoski, calls this the “dual control model” (Come As You Are, 2015). This model explains aspects of the biological and psychological difference between male and female sexuality and what we need to know to have sexual self-confidence and empathy for our partners.

Accelerator vs. Brake

The central sexual response mechanism in the brains of men and women consist of two universal components – a sexual accelerator and a sexual brake.

This dual control model consists of two parts:

  1. The Sexual Excitation System (SES) or “accelerator” of sexual response receives information about sexually relevant stimuli in the environment. It sends signals from the brain to the genitals to “turn-on”. The SES constantly scans the “context” (including thoughts and feelings) for things that are sexually relevant. With the SES, anything you see, hear, smell, taste, or imagine might send a “turn-on” message.
  2. The Sexual Inhibition System (SIS) is the sexual “brake.” This system notices all potential threats in the environment (such as STI transmission, unwanted pregnancy, social consequences of sexual activity) and sends signals to “turn off”. Nagoski calls this the sexual “foot brake.” It is primarily associated with the fear of consequences. There is also a second brake, more akin to a handbrake, associated with a fear of performance failure, like worry about not having an orgasm. “If you try to drive with the handbrake on,” says Nagoski, you might be able to get where you want to go, but it’ll take longer and use a lot more gas” (Come As You Are, p. 49).
For Arousal — Activate the Accelerator and Deactivate the Brake

Arousal (psychological desire) happens with activation of the accelerator and deactivation of the brake. The former is more salient for men, the latter more important for women. Male sexuality is accelerator-dominant because the SES scans for female attributes that are cues of fertility. The SES (in men) is the pursuer and the initiator. Women’s brake system comports with the evolutionary agenda for a cautious choice of a mate and a need for safety.

Accelerator and Brake in the Brain

Differences in brain structure between men and women are related to the male-dominant accelerator system and the female-dominant brake system.

Men, in general, have a higher baseline of activity in the older part of the brain, the limbic system, which makes them particularly alert during the first stage of seduction, according to Marianne Legato* (Why Men Die First). The medial preoptic area (MPOA), found in the hypothalamus, is related to sexual pursuit and is 2.5 times larger in males, according to neuropsychiatrist Louann Brizendine (The Male Brain). Men also show greater activity in the visual cortex when perceiving erotic pictures, reflecting a gender-specific visual mechanism for sexual selection.

Female Amygdala is More Sensitive to the Fear of Consequences

The brain’s danger and alert system is the amygdala. While larger in males, the female amygdala seems to be more sensitive to the fear of consequences descriptive of the braking system.

Brain’s Worry Center is Bigger in Women

Another part of the brain, the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), is also involved in “braking.” According to Brizendine, the ACC is the worrywart, fear-of-punishment area, and center of sexual performance anxiety. It weighs options, detects conflicts, and motivates decisions. The ACC is also the area for self-consciousness (the “handbrake”). The ACC is bigger in women. In addition to a less active ACC in men, testosterone decreases worry about punishment and reduces the strength of a sexual brake and fortifies the sexual accelerator.

Women Put On the Brakes

For women, in both ancient and modern times, safety is a powerful need that activates the sexual brake: fear of being killed, being raped, getting pregnant, and/or having their reputation destroyed. A woman’s deepest unconscious fear is that a man will rape or kill her. (A man’s deepest unconscious fear is that a woman will sexually humiliate him.)

Sexual Temperament Questionnaire

According to Nagoski’s research using her “Sexual Temperament Questionnaire,” 50-65% of women have a moderately strong inhibition system (SIS). Any increase in stress (anxiety, overwhelm, exhaustion) will reduce interest. And, 25% of women have a “high” SIS or a very strong braking system. These women are sensitive to all reasons not to be aroused and have more sexual problems than women with less active SIS. Nagoski says low female desire is not about hormones or boredom with monogamy; it is most likely about stress, depression, anxiety, trauma, attachment, relationship satisfaction, and lack of self-compassion. [Other researchers say boredom and lack of novelty do affect female marital desire.]

SES and SIS Operate Independently

The sensitivity of the SES and SIS are individual traits. Both can be sensitive, both can be not sensitive, and one or the other can be sensitive and not sensitive, co-existing together. (It can get very complicated!) But the general differences of dual control between men and women directly affect their sexual relating and sexual psychology. These differences are congruent with evolutionary theory and mate selection science.

Asexuals Have Essentially No Sexual Excitation System

A fairly weak accelerator (independent of brakes) is one predictor of asexuality – people who do not desire sexual contact. In studies of self-identified asexuals, researchers found asexuals had significantly “less accelerator” activity than their sexual counterparts (Prause and Graham, 2007**). Nagoski posits that part of the cause of asexuality as a sexual orientation for women is that their brains do not notice sexually relevant stimuli. Nagoski says asexuals represent only about 1 percent of the general population. Whereas, about 5-10 percent of women score as having low SES on the Sexual Temperament Questionnaire.

Why is it Important to Understand the Sexual Accelerator and Brake?

Men and women have differences that we must acknowledge and understand to have fulfilling romantic and sexual relationships.

A difference in the level of desire is the single most common sexual dysfunction for couples. Usually, that dysfunction includes a belief by one partner that their level of desire is better or is the way it “should be.” Nagoski suggests it is not the differential in desire that causes the dysfunction but how the couple manages it. The problem isn’t desire itself; it’s the context. What is needed is more sexually relevant stimuli activating the accelerator and fewer things hitting the brake.

Advice for Couples

Good advice to couples is to focus first and foremost on the operation of her “brakes.”  What is the right context for romance and sex; what context for sexual expression takes her foot off the brake? What are the sources of her stress, anxiety, and relationship dissatisfaction? What trauma is still unexamined and unresolved? What triggers her handbrake — body image concerns or worry about orgasm? The to-do list in her head?

Nagoski has a helpful worksheet in Come As You Are to identify and list the “not-so-sexy” inhibitory contexts (as well as a worksheet for situational accelerators) in the following categories: mental and physical well-being, partner characteristics, relationship characteristics, other life circumstances, and the sexual activities practiced.

Conclusion

The composition of our excitation and inhibition systems is set by our biology, life experiences, and habits. Creating the right balance of acceleration and braking for any person or couple is more art than science, and probably hard work. Again, these are individualized sensitivities. But there is no substitute for giving your partner understanding, acceptance, and compassion. Start with how men and women are generally different and what part of that difference is true for you as a person and a couple. Let’s refuel that engine with the right contexts and get it back on the road at the right speed.

Notes

See blog: Spontaneous and Response Desire — the Underbelly of Heterosexual Mating and future blogs on the importance of context for women.

*Marianne Legato is an internationally renowned academic, physician, author, lecturer, and pioneer in the field of gender-specific medicine. She is Professor Emerita of Clinical Medicine at Columba University and founder of The Partnership of Gender-Specific Medicine.

**Prause, N. and Graham, C., “Asexuality: classification and characterization.” Archives of Sexual Behavior 36, 2007, p. 341-56).

Please Note: Your comment may take up to 12 seconds to register and the confirmation message will appear above the “Submit a Comment” text. 

Sexual Non-concordance: Recipe for Relationship Confusion

Sexual Non-concordance: Recipe for Relationship Confusion

by | May 19, 2020 | Dating & Mating Economy, Relationship Issues, Sexuality

As a man, have you tried to make love to a woman that “seemed” turned-on but actually was not?

As a woman, have you endured sexual contact you did not want even though the man was convinced your body signaled otherwise?

As a man, have you ever hesitated to escalate sexual activity because the woman’s body was not giving you the green light?

As a woman, have you ever been frustrated that a man was sexually tepid, cautious, or lost interest because your body did not respond to him, even though you were very ready for sex?

Men and Women Are Different – the Science of Non-Concordance

Men and women are quite different in the degree of alignment (“concordance”) between their subjective sexual desire and physiological sexual arousal. According to preeminent sex educator and author Emily Nagoski (Come as You Are, 2015) and other researchers, women have very random or little concordance (10%) between their physical sexual arousal and psychological sexual desire. A woman may be lubricated or have genital vasocongestion and not be psychologically turned-on. Conversely, a woman who is not lubricated may actually be subjectively in a state of desire.

The prevalence of female sexual non-concordance can cause immense confusion in sexual interactions, especially for male partners. Consent cannot be inferred or ruled out by the evidence of physiological arousal or lack thereof.

Two Systems

Non-concordance is about the relationship between the peripheral system, the genitals, and the central system, the brain: they are two separate but interconnected systems. The relationship between these two systems is different for women and men. For women, the two systems are not necessarily in sync; for men, they mostly are. Men are indeed more simple in this regard — more transparent and obvious in their sexual interest and intent.

Nagoski’s research is primarily focused on exploring, explaining, and normalizing female non-concordance — an overlap of subjective arousal and physiological arousal of only ten percent. But she asserts that men have 50% concordance (overlap) between their physical arousal and psychological desire. Anecdotal evidence (there is less research on men) reveals male concordance closer to 80%, rather than 50%. 

Male Sexual Non-concordance?

When a man gets an erection during sleep (nocturnal penile tumescence – NPT) or wakes up with an erection (a common phenomenon that decreases with age), it is likely the result of daily fluctuations in testosterone levels, says neuroscientist, Louann Brizendine. These erections are different from true sexual arousal because they originate from testosterone receptors that live on nerve cells in a man’s spinal cord, testicles, penis, and brain. NPT (“morning wood”) is not related to sexual thoughts, dreams, or stimulation.  It is the result of the sleep cycle, combined with healthy nerves and blood flow.

If a man has a regular day-time erection (as opposed to NPT), it is nearly guaranteed that he is psychologically turned-on by some sexually relevant stimulus. A female partner would not likely be confused about the presence of a sexual context or his level of interest and consent. Conversely, a man without an erection is not subjectively turned-on in most cases. His body and subjective experience are concordant; they are in agreement. When a man experiences erectile dysfunction (ED) caused by actual vascular problems, it may be possible that subjective desire is present. Although the overlay of stress and anxiety about ED will likely impede the experience of desire.

Female Sexual Non-concordance – Tricky Relationship Dynamics

According to Nagoski, female genital response (what she calls expecting) does not equate with being subjectively “turned on.” Again, there can be physiological arousal with vasocongestion (blood flow and swelling) of the genitals and/or lubrication of the vagina, and yet the woman does not experience psychological desire.

Nagoski says this genital response is a conditioned reflex. Blood flow to the genitals indicates the woman has been exposed to something the brain interprets as sexually relevant, with no “opinion” about whether she liked whatever or whoever was present at the time.

“Lubrication Error” #1 – False Positive

With this “error”, the woman’s body is responding positively (physiological arousal and “expecting”) but she is not turned on. She is not in a state of desiring or wanting. “My body is aroused and expecting, but I am not enjoying it.”

This can cause immense confusion for men about a woman’s interest and consent for sexual activity, especially if she has acted with sexual interest in the past or in that present moment.

Nagoski uses the movie Fifty Shades of Gray as an example of this: Anastasia did not like the spanking she got from Gray. She felt demeaned, debased, and abused. But Grey inserts his finger in her vagina and apparently feels lubrication – so as to convince her that she liked it. Nagoski asserts that was a big error in reading sexual signals in that encounter (as opposed to other scenes in the movie). Lubrication means it was sexually relevant, not that is was sexually appealing.

Obviously, this error in understanding a woman’s actual consent has immense relevance to the incidence and prosecution of sexual assault and rape.

Nagoski: “Bodies do not say yes or no, they only say, “that’s sexually relevant, without any comment on whether it was appealing, much less whether it is wanted.” A penis in a vagina is sexually relevant, though it may be unappealing, unwanted, and unwelcome. There is no wanting necessary for a genital response.”

“Lubrication Error” #2 – False Negative

Genital non-response also does not indicate a lack of enjoyment!

“My body is not responding, is seeming not aroused, but I am actually enjoying it. I want you to proceed without delay!” Subjectively the woman is in a state of desire. There is no arousal, “expecting,” or lubrication, and yet there is wanting. This error is most common for post-menopausal women.

While this error does not create a violation of consent, it does create immense frustration for both partners. The man is getting no signs of wetness. She is likely to get frustrated at his lack of assertion or insertion. Inextricably linked to her own turn-on, she wants to be wanted by him. He is second-guessing himself and loses his sense of potency and self-confidence. He does not know how to please her and he no longer knows how to please himself, even if, ironically, that is actually what she wants from him. (I have been there.)

How to Prevent Errors of Sexual Non-concordance (Miscommunication)?

Nagoski has little to recommend to women to better understand a man’s intent and readiness because that is not a common problem. For men, her recommendation (in a woman’s voice) is simple: “What my genitals are doing doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with how I feel. Thirty years of research confirms this. So please pay attention to my words, not my vagina.”

The void created by the failure to communicate is soon filled with poison, drivel, and misrepresentation. ~ C. Northcote Parkinson.

Please Note: Your comment may take up to 12 seconds to register and the confirmation message will appear above the “Submit a Comment” text.