A mind of her own : the evolutionary psychology of women

When Darwin Proposed That Females Shape Evolution By Being Choosy In Their Choice Of Male Suitors, His Victorian Contemporaries Were Shocked That He Accorded So Much Importance To Women. But This Early View Of The Female Role Was Far From Revolutionary: They Were Simply Allowed To Be Passive 'quality Controllers' Of Male Genes. Recent Years Have Shown That The Inert 'coy Female' Is A Myth. For A Male, A High Sex Drive And A Taste For Variety May Improve His Fitness. But For A Female, Successful Reproduction Goes Far Beyond Copulation. She Bears The Brunt Of Parental Investment With Each Child Represents Years Of Commitment From Pregnancy And Breast-feeding To Provisioning And Guarding. For Her Genetic Lineage To Survive, She Must Do This Better Than Her Rivals. Each Of Us Comes From A Line Of Winning Mothers. Women Are, After All, The First And Default Sex. It Is Women Who Bear Children. A Child Born With A Single X Chromosome Can Survive, But Not One With A Single Y. In A Population Crash, A Female-biased Population Will Survive Far Better Than A Male-heavy One. In This Book, Anne Campbell Redresses The Balance Of Evolutionary Theory In Favour Of Women. She Examines How Selection Pressures Have Shaped The Female Mind Over Thousands Of Generations: Their Emotions, Friendship, Competition, Aggression And Mate Choice. She Brings Together Data From Neuroscience, Endocrinology, Anthropology, Primatology As Well As Psychology To Address Fundamental Questions About Sex Differences.... Why Are Women Less Aggressive Than Men? Were Women Designed For Monogamy Or Promiscuity? What Do Women Compete For? Why Is Conflict Between Males And Females Inevitable? What Makes Each Woman Unique? Have Contraception And Ivf Subverted The Process Of Natural Selection? -- Publisher's Description. The Essential Woman : Biophobia And The Study Of Sex Differences -- Mothers Matter Most : Women And Parental Investment -- High Stakes And Low Risks : Women And Aggression -- Who Does She Think She Is? : Women And Status -- Like A Sister : Women And Friendship -- But She That Filches From Me My Good Name : Women And Mate Competition -- A Coincidence Of Interests : Women And Monogamy -- Individual Differences : The Unique Woman -- The Flexible Phenotype : Women And Culture. Anne Campbell. Previous Edition: 2002. Includes Bibliographical References (pages [343]-406) And Indexes. The author explores the role of women in evolutionary theory. She argues that selection pressures have shaped the female mind over many generations: their emotions, friendship, competition, aggression and mate choice. She deals with questions such as if women were designed for monogamy or promiscuity; what women compete for; if contraception and IVF subverted the process of natural selection. New to this edition: the role of oxytocin in female partner-directed aggression; an analysis of women and mental health disorders and the relationship this has with women's levels of aggression; expanded sections on sexual conflict, the individual differences between women and culture and gene-culture evolution. First ed.: 2002 Cover; Contents; 1 The essential woman: Biophobia and the study of sex differences; 2 Mothers matter most: Women and parental investment; 3 High stakes and low risks: Women and aggression; 4 Who does she think she is? Women and status; 5 Like a sister: Women and friendship; 6 But she that filches from me my good name: Women and mate competition; 7 A coincidence of interests: Women and monogamy; 8 Individual differences: The unique woman; 9 The flexible phenotype: Women and culture; References; Subject Index; A; B; C; D; E; F; G; H; I; J; K; L; M; N; O; P; R; S; T; U; V; W; X; Y; Z. Author IndexA; B; C; D; E; F; G; H; I; J; K; L; M; N; O; P; Q; R; S; T; U; V; W; X; Y; Z. Addresses key feminist criticisms of evolutionary theory by examining the effects of cultural innovations such as women's empowerment, labour force participation and the impact of reproductive medicine. New to this edition: new coverage of oxytocin, the evolutionary conserved peptide hormone, and the role it plays in female partner-directed aggression; an analysis of women and mental health disorders and the relationship this has with women's lower levels of aggression in relation to men; expanded sections on sexual conflict, the individual differences between women and culture, and gene-culture evolution Campbell argues that evolutionary theory can indeed teach us plenty about the development of the female mind. This text will force others to re-evaluate their own assumptions about the evolution of the female mind.