(Lethbridge Undergraduate Research Journal, 2006-04) McLaughlin, Cydne
Evolutionists have long argued that more aggressive and more physically
fit males that could fight off competition and control sexual access to their
female mate(s) were more successful at passing on their genes. As a result
male aggression towards other males and even towards females has been
argued as being an evolved tactic to gain access to mates and to ensure
paternity of offspring. Males are thought to engage primarily in intrasexual
competition for mates while females engage in epigamic display, demonstrating
characteristics thought to be desirable to the opposite sex, to attract mates
(Campbell, 1995). This kind of theorizing portrays males' evolution as active
whereas females' evolution is passive. Males evolve through competition whereas females evolve through mate selection.