lectual strength, and docile, sexually coy women. Since humans evolved from animals and "no one disputes that the bull differs in disposition from the cow, the wild boar from the sow, the stallion from the mare, and, as is well known through the keepers of menageries, the males of the larger apes from the females," Darwin argued that similar differences existed among humans. Consequently, he concluded that men are, "more courageous, pugnacious and energetic than woman, and have more inventive genius."Darwin did much to damage society during his day, women in particular. Victorian assumptions of the inevitability and rightness of a woman's role of domestic moral preceptor and nurturer and man's role of free-ranging aggressive provider and jealous patriarch were enshrined in Darwin's reconstruction of human evolution. Our female progenitors were maternal, sexually shy, tender and altruistic, while our male ancestors were "naturally" competitive, ambitious and selfish. Not unlike Darwin himself who wrote in The Descent: "Man is the rival of other men; he delights in competition." It was the natural order of things, just as man was "naturally" more intelligent than woman, as Darwin demonstrated to his satisfaction through the dearth of eminent women intellectuals and professionals. "The chief distinction in the intellectual powers of the two sexes is shown by man's attaining to a higher eminence in whatever he takes up, than can women -- whether requiring deep thought, reason, or imagination, or merely the use of the senses or hands" (Darwin, 1871, 102).It is quite clear how Darwin perpetuated stereotypes and created conflict between the genders in his day. One would think that time and science would have moved today’s society far beyond thoughts of natural selection and survival of the fittest in the battle of the sexes. However, these premises are still affecting our culture today and tainting the attitudes of men and women in their...
