Dominance and submissiveness in evolutionary biology - what are people's thoughts on this ? (Full Version)

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GBaxter -> Dominance and submissiveness in evolutionary biology - what are people's thoughts on this ? (6/20/2016 5:07:01 PM)

I was reading the extract below from an interesting book talking about evolutionary biology and I was wondering what people's thoughts are about it, as I passed it on to a female friend to get her opinion, who disagrees with it and got angry with it. Obviously, it's not going to apply to women who are gay.


- A common sexual problem with men is their obsession with the physical. Sex toys may provide physical stimulation, but they can't provide psychological stimulation, that's the most important aspect of sex. Although psychological stimulation is important for men, it's 10 times more important for women. Dominance is an extremely important sexual characteristic for a man, because millions of years of evolution have programmed women to respond instinctually to dominant men. Tens of thousands of years ago, humans were tribes of hunters. There were two types of males in this society: alpha and beta males. Alpha males were the dominant, aggressive males, who were at the top of the tribal society and made the rules, while beta males were the smaller, weaker males. They were submissive to the alphas.

There were 2 types of females in this primitive society: those who liked alpha males and those who liked beta males. Some liked how the betas were gentle, nurturing and always provided for them. Others
were turned on by the Dominance and aggression of the alphas. When these females reproduced, they each had children with the genetic tendencies of their parents. The children of beta males turned out
to be beta. The children of alpha males turned out to be alpha males themselves. What happened though, is alpha males eventually beat the shit out of beta males and raped all their women. The children
of beta males didn't survive. Evolution slowly weeded out all those women who were attracted to anything, but the most dominant of men.

Today, there's only one type of female: those who like alpha males. The desire to be submissive to a dominant alpha male is one of the deepest and most important instincts of females of any species, but it's
not mentioned in any mainstream sex literature, because society has made the female desire to be submissive, to a dominant male to be taboo. We all get deluged with social programming like 'men want to
have sex, women want to make love' and 'a woman wants a man who respects her' and women are socially conditioned to repress their desire to be dominated and men are conditioned to repress their desire
to dominate. However, in the absence of Dominance there's no sexual satisfaction. While most women will never speak about it and may not even be conscious of it themselves, they all deeply desire to be
submissive to a powerful man. Although most heterosexual women today would never verbalize it, deep down they crave the fucking that only a dominant alpha male can give her. By dominating her in bed,
an alpha male isn't at all disrespecting her or doing anything wrong, but he's giving her a gift of intense sexual pleasure.


Her reply :
Of all the billions upon billions of women in the world, you mean to tell me that all of them want to be dominated by a man? Firstly there's trans/gays/bisexuals in the world (of which I'm a part of) who don't
necessarily need a man for sexual fulfilment at all.

Plus what about all the women Doms out there ? Take Nina Heartley for example? Do you actually believe she wants to be on the receiving end ? That she deep down wants to be the dominated?

Throughout all of modern history, women have been expected to be submissive to a man, be it in the bedroom or in the workplace. Why do you think it took so long for equal pay, voting and education opportunities? It was simply because women were seen as inferior and the non-dominant part of a half...

I've had some pretty good sexual experiences when there was absolutely no Dom/sub contrast, it's called vanilla for a reason, billions of people experience this every day. How about sexual assault victims, who can actually only experience sexual pleasure and relaxation from having the control?





ReMakeYou -> RE: Dominance and submissiveness in evolutionary biology - what are people's thoughts on this ? (6/20/2016 5:25:50 PM)

What sources does the book you quoted cite? Anything from cross-cultural studies, or ideally a broad range of the animal kingdom? (Hyenas would love to have a word with you.)

Because while my experience is that women in general do prefer dominance, it's going to take one hell of a lot of evidence if you want to argue that it's hardwired into us.




ThatDizzyChick -> RE: Dominance and submissiveness in evolutionary biology - what are people's thoughts on this ? (6/20/2016 5:47:05 PM)

Stupid




Awareness -> RE: Dominance and submissiveness in evolutionary biology - what are people's thoughts on this ? (6/20/2016 6:40:32 PM)

Don't even bother dude - the women here hate evolutionary psychology because it doesn't coddle them and tell them they're special snowflakes and it pretty much explains that men are in charge because we're better at it than they are.

Trust me, their delusional little egos can't even begin to handle that reality.




DesFIP -> RE: Dominance and submissiveness in evolutionary biology - what are people's thoughts on this ? (6/20/2016 8:38:54 PM)

In actuality, studies of chimps show that betas have much more sex than alphas. While alphas are posturing with each other, the betas are having sex.

Beyond this, what a woman prefers depends on where in her cycle she is. She might prefer a more aggressive male one week and a more nurturing one the next. That study applies to deciding which guy looks better in theory. Since we have brains, we frequently can recognize the temporary appeal of a more aggressive man but choose to go home with our supportive partner. In exactly the same way we read the menu and drool over the chocolate lava cake but actually order a mixed green salad with chicken.

The book is bad science, I'm sorry to tell you.




Greta75 -> RE: Dominance and submissiveness in evolutionary biology - what are people's thoughts on this ? (6/20/2016 9:15:05 PM)

quote:

Some liked how the betas were gentle, nurturing and always provided for them. Others
were turned on by the Dominance and aggression of the alphas.

There is something wrong with those definitions.

Dominance does not equal aggression.

I'd say dominance can be gentle and nurturing and always provided for them. You know there are people who command co-operation by screaming, shouting, being aggressive or threaten aggression, that is not dominance to me. That's just bullying.

And there are people who are just able to command co-operation, without raising his voice, losing his temper, and always handle the situation calmly. Using psychological techniques instead.

To me, Beta is simply someone who is a push over, can't lead, can't take control, throws a tantrum when things doesn't work out because his lost control and is completely lost on how to regain control, and the only way he knows how to express his ineptness of dominance is to lose it.

Or a Beta can be someone who just don't like leading or decision making and is happy to keep leaving everything to someone else.





ReMakeYou -> RE: Dominance and submissiveness in evolutionary biology - what are people's thoughts on this ? (6/20/2016 10:01:48 PM)

Coming back to this, because bad science drives me up a wall:

quote:

When these females reproduced, they each had children with the genetic tendencies of their parents. The children of beta males turned out to be beta. The children of alpha males turned out to be alpha males themselves.


Ignoring entirely the genetic contribution from the mother. I never knew that it was so easy to trace dominance/submission to the Y chromosome specifically

quote:

What happened though, is alpha males eventually beat the shit out of beta males and raped all their women. The children of beta males didn't survive. Evolution slowly weeded out all those women who were attracted to anything, but the most dominant of men.


Assume for a second that this is exactly what happened. It wouldn't do anything to the female's genetic preference for beta providers, since those women were being forced to reproduce regardless of their tastes. Rather, these betas who got the crap kicked out of them and their women taken away would be the ones whose lineage went kaput. And since all men alive today would be the descendants of the victorious alphas, we'd see nothing but alphas today and nobody would know what one of these "beta males" looked like.

So what this actually predicts is that all men are alphas but some women are vaguely dissatisfied with what's available. Which is the exact opposite of your "chicks are genetically programmed to prefer alphas, betas get the shaft" thesis.




littleladybug -> RE: Dominance and submissiveness in evolutionary biology - what are people's thoughts on this ? (6/21/2016 7:21:49 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: DesFIP

In actuality, studies of chimps show that betas have much more sex than alphas. While alphas are posturing with each other, the betas are having sex.

Beyond this, what a woman prefers depends on where in her cycle she is. She might prefer a more aggressive male one week and a more nurturing one the next. That study applies to deciding which guy looks better in theory. Since we have brains, we frequently can recognize the temporary appeal of a more aggressive man but choose to go home with our supportive partner. In exactly the same way we read the menu and drool over the chocolate lava cake but actually order a mixed green salad with chicken.

The book is bad science, I'm sorry to tell you.


I find this apparent need for some to "scientifically" show that their preferred relationship orientation is the right way to be quite amusing and incredibly pathetic at the same time.





ThatDizzyChick -> RE: Dominance and submissiveness in evolutionary biology - what are people's thoughts on this ? (6/21/2016 8:40:35 AM)

quote:

I find this apparent need for some to "scientifically" show that their preferred relationship orientation is the right way to be quite amusing and incredibly pathetic at the same time.

Yeah, and then some




Awareness -> RE: Dominance and submissiveness in evolutionary biology - what are people's thoughts on this ? (6/21/2016 8:47:45 AM)

Quod Erat Demonstrandum.




blnymph -> RE: Dominance and submissiveness in evolutionary biology - what are people's thoughts on this ? (6/21/2016 8:51:20 AM)

excuse me: what book? could you give the bibliographical data?




littleladybug -> RE: Dominance and submissiveness in evolutionary biology - what are people's thoughts on this ? (6/21/2016 8:51:33 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Awareness

Quod Erat Demonstrandum.


Quelle suprise.




crazyml -> RE: Dominance and submissiveness in evolutionary biology - what are people's thoughts on this ? (6/21/2016 12:33:39 PM)

Would you mind posting the title, author, and publication date of this book.

Assuming that it exists.




crazyml -> RE: Dominance and submissiveness in evolutionary biology - what are people's thoughts on this ? (6/21/2016 1:00:03 PM)

While you're looking up the reference to this "book", take a look at this quora thread...

https://www.quora.com/Why-do-some-feminists-hate-evolutionary-psychology




blnymph -> RE: Dominance and submissiveness in evolutionary biology - what are people's thoughts on this ? (6/21/2016 1:32:40 PM)

I always distrust reports about prehistory written as if eye-witness reports - so in my opinion anything written like this needs a citations and evidence list about 4 times its length to be even worth discussing.

Most of this I met so far is a misinterpreted, abbreviated as well as fancifully embellished version of Robert Graves' "White Goddess" - which is an interesting text full of knowledge but also full of unproven because methodically unprovable hypotheses. Where Graves is faithfully marking where his factual basis begins and ends, others have been extremely careless, and shameless in exploiting it, as facts all over.




FieryOpal -> RE: Dominance and submissiveness in evolutionary biology - what are people's thoughts on this ? (6/21/2016 9:07:58 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: GBaxter
I was reading the extract below from an interesting book talking about evolutionary biology.... Obviously, it's not going to apply to women who are gay.

I believe this is what Awareness refers to as "evolutionary psychology" in his post.

OP, what explanation is there for why females who are not straight wouldn't instinctively seek out a more Dominant female sexual partner, or is this the unique domain of heterosexuality according to the precepts outlined in your little essay?

Further, how does homosexuality in either gender fit into this *evolutionary* breeding pattern? If not for the purpose of propagation of the species, then in terms of making advantageous sexual alliances relative to the most basic instinct for self-preservation. If this is the only type of exception you recognize, then how can you categorically deny any others, according to your train wreck of a book's idiotic logic, that is.

quote:

Dominance is an extremely important sexual characteristic for a man, because millions of years of evolution have programmed women to respond instinctually to dominant men.

Are you saying that evolutionary programming is some type of softwiring which overrides hardwired instincts?
Creatures learn to adapt to their surroundings, environmental change factors. Those species which don't or can't naturally adapt, improvise and overcome, become extinct.

You and your book are confusing Dominance with those Dominant characteristics which uniquely benefit each and every species.
Dominant genetic markers and Dominant traits get passed down over Recessive ones.

Nature, however, is imminently resourceful in allowing paired Recessive genes to manifest and continue to proliferate.

As for the instinctive female response to be attracted to males with Dominant dispositions, I will say this. It's a helluva lot more fun and a helluva bigger rush for me to dominate a powerful man with a strong personality, than for me to trifle with a weak-willed and/or underachieving sort of man. [;)]

quote:

There were two types of males in this society: alpha and beta males. Alpha males were the dominant, aggressive males, who were at the top of the tribal society and made the rules, while beta males were the smaller, weaker males. They were submissive to the alphas.

Wrong. There are many, many gradations in rank & file. Beta is the wingman to Alpha, the understudy, the one who can step up to the plate as clan chieftain when need be. In a confederation of clans, the Alpha chiefs were known to elect one Alpha chieftain on a temporary, short-term basis to lead the tribal nation for an express purpose, objectives or goal. This oligarchic role later "evolved" into swearing fealty to one monarch or regent, who could be either a king and/or queen.

Alphas are submissive to other Alphas in one form or another by deferring to the authority of The Powers That Be. Nobody is Master of the Universe. Princes bow to kings, kings pay tribute to emperors & empresses. Heads of state are accountable for their actions, the President or Prime Minister is theoretically a public servant, CEOs report to their Boards of Directors or Trustees, and so on.

There is another class of individual who values freedom and independence, who may strike out on his/her own as an adventurer, explorer or nomad, forming his/her own clan and who does not quite fit the overly simplistic Alpha/Beta model. There are females who are attracted to this kind of individualist, ones who are not afraid of taking risks by venturing into the unknown and into uncharted territories.

quote:

There were 2 types of females in this primitive society: those who liked alpha males and those who liked beta males. Some liked how the betas were gentle, nurturing and always provided for them. Others were turned on by the Dominance and aggression of the alphas.

Wrong again. For the sake of argument, though, what makes you think that being an Alpha male and a good, reliable provider is mutually exclusive? It isn't. Neither is being a gentle lover, or a nurturing husband-mate and father. IME, the Alpha men I have known take great pride in being a stable partner, exemplary providers, fairly exciting lovers, and devoted family men. They are also not insecure about sharing Head of Household standing with an equally powerful, capable and nurturing wife, because they attach a high value to successful teamwork in the synergistic partnerships they form. In fact, this has proven true more often than not as a litmus test of whether a man is *really* Dominant or just goes around calling himself an Alpha male/Type A Dominant personality.

quote:

When these females reproduced, they each had children with the genetic tendencies of their parents. The children of beta males turned out to be beta. The children of alpha males turned out to be alpha males themselves. What happened though, is alpha males eventually beat the shit out of beta males and raped all their women. The children of beta males didn't survive. Evolution slowly weeded out all those women who were attracted to anything, but the most dominant of men.

ROFLMAO
Stupid is, as stupid makes shit up to see what sticks to the wall.
(ReMakeYou and DesFIP, you have more patience than I do.)

quote:

Today, there's only one type of female: those who like alpha males.

LOLOLOL

quote:

The desire to be submissive to a dominant alpha male is one of the deepest and most important instincts of females of any species, but it's not mentioned in any mainstream sex literature, because society has made the female desire to be submissive, to a dominant male to be taboo.

Because, of course, 'society' is an artificial construct with no basis in reality, and gave birth to its own phantasmagoric self like battle-armored Athena bursting forth triumphantly out of Zeus's head, given that "Evolution slowly weeded out all those women who were attracted to anything, but the most dominant of men." [8|]

quote:

We all get deluged with social programming like 'men want to have sex, women want to make love'...

Let me get this straight. As in 'social programming' apart from the "evolutionary programming" being thrust forward? You know, that supposedly softwired stuff that automatically rules over hardwired natural instinct?

Earth to OP, there are plenty of men who want to make love, to form meaningful emotional attachments, to pairbond with their mate as life partner, and who find (casual) sex as unfulfilling as empty caloric intake.

quote:

women are socially conditioned to repress their desire to be dominated and men are conditioned to repress their desire to dominate.

Bullshit. Let us hearken back to the inexplicable black hole of a vacuum from whence social conditioning arose, shall we....

quote:

However, in the absence of Dominance there's no sexual satisfaction.

Speak for yourself. Oh, that's right, this is all you have been doing while busily engrossed in talking out of your arse. [8D]

quote:

While most women will never speak about it and may not even be conscious of it themselves, they all deeply desire to be submissive to a powerful man.

You are only partly correct, and your half-baked generalizations do not come close to 'most' women and 'all' women, nor to your many gender-biased misassumptions about submission.

This bears repeating: It's a helluva lot more fun and a helluva bigger rush for me to dominate a powerful man with a strong personality, than for me to trifle with a weak-willed and/or underachieving sort of man. [;)] Here, I must make a very clear distinction. A man who is submissive to me or who follows my lead, does not mean he is privately submissive to others or by anybody else's standards, or that he chooses to be less than independent in other areas of his life.




ThatDizzyChick -> RE: Dominance and submissiveness in evolutionary biology - what are people's thoughts on this ? (6/21/2016 9:26:55 PM)

quote:

The children of beta males didn't survive.

That would mean that there are now only alpha males left.......




ForgetToRemember -> RE: Dominance and submissiveness in evolutionary biology - what are people's thoughts on this ? (7/11/2016 11:54:20 PM)

Oh boy. This is going to get interesting lol. First off, I sincerely doubt that your quote was from evolutionary biology or evolutionary psychology. It seems to me that you are basically taking what you or someone else thought about how evolution worked, and tried to apply it to domination and submission. I say this, because I know a bit about evolutionary psychology, and what you said about the beta males makes no sense.

I don't want to write up a huge post - it would take too much time and too few people would see it. Basically, women go through cycles - both over their lifetime and over a month. The younger women absolutely are attracted to physical and psychological traits of strength and dominance. Same is true for women when they are most sexually fertile during the month. However, this changes over time. Women get more attracted to kinder, loving men later in life, and after their period. This leads us to the famous case of cuckolding - where a women would love to find an Alpha male for sex (aka babies), and have the beta male raise them.

This is actually a pretty common occurrence in primates. I dare say it has happened quite a bit in human history as well. This is also why men have evolved to be very protective of the women they are with - to the point that even fathers exhibit this behavior over their daughters (the image of a dad with a shotgun on the porch as the teenage boy takes his daughter out for a date). So, as expected, this is a mini-arms race in evolutionary terms - where women want alpha males' babies, while with beta males (and men of all sorts wanting only their own babies - fear of cuckolding). So, there have been advantages to both alpha and beta males, and that is why they both exist today, and women want both of them (albeit at different times and for different reasons). The idea that alpha male beat the shit out of beta males and raped their women is hilarious. Just look at any primate society - that doesn't happen even WITHOUT laws and massive cooperation.

So, what does this have to do with D/s? Well, as it turns out - and this may just be my own experience here - the women who are submissive (say on a site like this), are actually looking for the best of both worlds. They want to feel like they are with an Alpha male in the bedroom - but they want the benefits of the beta male outside it. If you don't think so - try publicly dominating or humiliating your sub and see how long that relationship lasts. Also, I suspect many Doms here fit into that mold - dominant in the bedroom and kind/loving outside. Alpha males are obnoxious, and quite frankly, I couldn't see many women wanting to be with them 24/7.

And, to complicate all this, we have society to shape biology. Social forces can actually change how someone develops biologically. Your genes react to their environment in your own lifetime - not the actual code, but what is active at any given moment. This allows for great variations and of course, exceptions to the rules.

So, evolutionary biology and evolutionary psychology have not closed the books on this subject, and chances are, will support this arms race view (competition between alpha males and beta males) for the foreseeable future.




JeffBC -> RE: Dominance and submissiveness in evolutionary biology - what are people's thoughts on this ? (7/12/2016 12:39:59 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: GBaxter
Tens of thousands of years ago, humans were tribes of hunters. There were two types of males in this society: alpha and beta males. Alpha males were the dominant, aggressive males, who were at the top of the tribal society and made the rules, while beta males were the smaller, weaker males. They were submissive to the alphas.

I think any argument which is based upon a made-up-from-whole-cloth recounting of human history needs to be taken with several grains of salt.




MizzSpitfire -> RE: Dominance and submissiveness in evolutionary biology - what are people's thoughts on this ? (7/15/2016 2:29:38 AM)

This is a completely and horribly flawed assertion. It's not at all surprising that no title or author is mentioned.




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