Juan and Maria have been married for 25 years. Juan is a lawyer and tends to be more assertive than Maria. Maria is a stay-at-home mother and tends to be more compliant than Juan. How would a sociobiologist explain the differences between Juan and Maria? How would a feminist explain the differences between Juan and Maria?
What will be an ideal response?
A sociobiologist would say that Juan’s assertiveness and full-time work outside of the home is evolutionarily adaptive because for centuries men have been the hunters of society and have become more assertive and aggressive over time in order to provide food and in order to ensure that he is selected by a female mate over other potential male mates by winning a fight. The sociobiologist would explain that Maria’s choice to stay at home and care for the children is evolutionarily adaptive because she has more parental investment in the children than Juan and wants to ensure the success of her children because she has invested more resources into them and she can be sure they are hers. A sociobiologist would also say that Maria’s compliance is evolutionarily adaptive because it will encourage her male mate to stay in the relationship longer, providing her with more resources and support. A feminist would say that the differences between Juan and Maria are mostly due to cultural and societal influences, along with socialization. Our society typically rewards males for being aggressive and females for being compliant. A feminist might also conclude that the difference between career choices can be related to men having more historic privilege in areas of education, labor, and wealth than women, leading to men having more professional career opportunities than women and women being encouraged to stay at home rather than join the workforce. The feminist may also say that men, specializing in paid employment in male-dominated occupations, adapted assertive and independent behaviors, whereas women, specializing in caregiving, adapted nurturing and compliant behaviors.
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