On human nature by Wilson Edward O

Author:Wilson, Edward O
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Sociobiology, Social Darwinism, Interpersonal relations, Behavior genetics, Human behavior, Psychology, Comparative, Darwinismo social, Sociobiologie, Darwinisme social, Sociobiologie, Erbe-Umwelt-Problem, Humanethologie
Publisher: Cambridge : Harvard University Press
Published: 1978-01-11T16:00:00+00:00

^^7 Sex

pound, they are stronger and quicker in most categories of sport. The proportion of their limbs, their skeletal torsion, and the density of their muscles are particularly suited for running and throwing, the archaic specialties of the ancestral hunter-gatherer males. The world track records reflect the disparity. Male champions are always between 5 and 20 percent faster than women champions: in 1974 the difference was 8 percent in the 106 meters, 11 percent in the 400 meters, 15 percent in the mile, 10 percent in the 10,000 meters, and so on through every distance. Even in the marathon, where size and brute strength count least, the difference was 13 percent. Women marathoners have comparable endurance, but men are faster — their champions run twenty-six five-minute miles one after another. The gap cannot be attributed to a lack of incentive and training. The great women runners of East Germany and the Soviet Union are the products of nationwide recruitment and scientifically planned training programs. Yet their champions, who consistently set Olympic and world records, could not place in an average men's regional track meet. The overlap in performances-between all men and women is of course great; the best women athletes are better than most male athletes, and women's track and field is an exciting competitive world of its own. But there is a substantial difference between average and best performances. The leading woman marathon runner in the United States in 1975, for example, would have ranked 752d in the national men's listing. Size is not the determinant. The smaller male runners, at 125 to 130 pounds, perform as well relative to women as do their taller and heavier competitors.

It is of equal importance that women match or surpass men in a few other sports, and these are among the ones furthest removed from the primitive techniques of hunting and aggression: long-distance swimming, the more acrobatic events of gymnastics, precision (but not distance) archery, and small-bore rifle shooting. As sports

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