Abstract
Male aggression against females in primates, including humans, often functions to control female sexuality to the male’s reproductive advantage. A comparative, evolutionary perspective is used to generate several hypotheses to help to explain cross-cultural variation in the frequency of male aggression against women. Variables considered include protection of women by kin, male-male alliances and male strategies for guarding mates and obtaining adulterous matings, and male resource control. The relationships between male aggression against women and gender ideologies, male domination of women, and female sexuality are also considered.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Abegglen, J. J. 1984On Socialization in Hamadryas Baboons. Cranberry, New Jersey: Associated University Press.
Abu-Lughod, L. 1986Veiled Sentiments: Honor and Poetry in a Bedouin Society. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Alexander, R. D., and K. M. Noonan 1979 Concealment of Ovulation, Parental Care, and Human Social Evolution. InEvolutionary Biology and Human Social Behavior, N. Chagnon and W. Irons, eds. Pp. 436–453. North Scituate, Massachusetts: Duxbury Press.
Altmann, J. 1980Baboon Mothers and Infants. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Aucoin, P. M. 1990 Domestic Violence and Social Relations of Conflict in Fiji.Pacific Studies 13:23–43.
Bailey, R. C. 1988 The Significance of Hypergyny for Understanding Subsistence Behaviour among Contemporary Hunters and Gatherers. InDiet and Subsistence: Current Archaeological Perspectives, B. V. Kennedy and G. M. LeMoine, eds. Pp. 57–65. Calgary: University of Calgary Press.
1989Time Allocation of Efe Pygmy Men and Women of the Ituri Forest, Zaire. Cross-cultural Studies in Time Allocation, Vol. 3. New Haven: The Human Relations Area Files.
Bailey, R. C., and R. Aunger 1989 Significance of the Social Relationships of Efe Pygmy Men in the Ituri Forest, Zaire.American Journal of Physical Anthropology 78:495–507.
Begler, E. B. 1978 Sex, Status, and Authority in Egalitarian Society.American Anthropologist 80:571–588.
Bernstein, I. S., and C. L. Ehardt 1985 Agonistic Aiding: Kinship, Rank, Age, and Sex Influences.American Journal of Primatology 8:37–52.
Betzig, L. 1986Despotism and Differential Reproduction: A Darwinian View of History. Hawthorne, New York: Aldine de Gruyter.
1991 Medieval monogamy. Submitted toEthology and Sociobiology.
Biocca, E. 1968Yanoama: Recit d’une Femme Bresilienne Enlevee par les Indiens. Translated by Gabrielle Cabrini. Paris: Plon.
Bleier, R. 1984Science and Gender: A Critique of Biology and Its Theories on Women. New York: Pergamon Press.
Broude, G. J., and S. J. Greene 1978 Cross-cultural Codes on Twenty Sexual Attitudes and Practices.Ethnology 15:409–430.
Brown, J. K. 1991 Introduction: Definitions, Assumptions, Themes and Issues. InSanctions and Sanctuary: Cultural Perspectives on the Beating of Wives, D. Counts, J. K. Brown, and J. C. Campbell, eds. Boulder: Westview Press, in press.
Brownmiller, S. 1975Against Our Will: Men, Women, and Rape. New York: Simon and Schuster.
Burbank, V. K. 1991 Fight! Fight!: Men, Women, and Interpersonal Aggression in an Australian Aboriginal Community. InSanctions and Sanctuary: Cultural Perspectives on the Beating of Wives, D. Counts, J. K. Brown, and J. C. Campbell, eds. Boulder: Westview Press, in press.
Burgess, R. L., and P. Draper 1989 The Explanation of Family Violence: The Role of Biological, Behavioral, and Cultural Selection. InFamily Violence. Crime and Justice: A Review of Research, Vol. 11, L. Ohlin and M. Tonry, eds. Pp. 59–116. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Bygott, J. D. 1972 Cannibalism among Wild Chimpanzees.Nature 238:410–411.
Campbell, J. 1964Honour, Family, and Patronage: A Study of Institutions and Moral Values in a Greek Mountain Community. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Campbell, J. C. 1991 Cultural Contexts versus Western Social Sciences. InSanctions and Sanctuary: Cultural Perspectives on the Beating of Wives, D. Counts, J. K. Brown, and J. C. Campbell, eds. Boulder: Westview Press, in press.
Chagnon, N. A. 1983Yanomamo: The Fierce People, third ed. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Chapais, B. 1983 Adaptive Aspects of Social Relationships among Adult Rhesus Monkeys. InPrimate Social Relationships: An Integrated Approach, R. A. Hinde, ed. Pp. 171–175. Oxford: Blackwell.
Chisholm, J. 1988 Toward a Developmental Evolutionary Ecology of Humans. InSociobiological Perspectives on Human Development, K. MacDonald, ed. New York: Springer-Verlag.
Collier, J. F., and M. Z. Rosaldo 1981 Politics and Gender in Simple Societies. InSexual Meanings: The Cultural Construction of Gender and Sexuality, S. B. Ortner and H. Whitehead, eds. Pp. 275–329. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Counts, D. A. 1990a Beaten Wife, Suicidal Woman: Domestic Violence in Kaliai, West New Britain.Pacific Studies 13:151–169.
1990b Domestic Violence in Oceania: Conclusions.Pacific Studies 13:225–254.
1991 “All Men Do It.” Wife Beating in Kaliai, Papua New Guinea. InSanctions and Sanctuary: Cultural Perspectives on the Beating of Wives, D. Counts, J. K. Brown, and J. C. Campbell, eds. Boulder: Westview Press, in press.
Counts, D., J. K. Brown, and J. C. Campbell, eds. 1991Sanctions and Sanctuary: Cultural Perspectives on the Beating of Wives. Boulder: Westview Press, in press.
Crockett, C. M., and R. Rudran 1987 Red Howler Monkey Birth Data II: Interannual, Habitat and Sex Comparisons.American Journal of Primatology 13:369–384.
Daly, Mary 1978GynEcology: The Metaethics of Radical Feminism. Boston: Beacon Press.
Daly, Martin, and M. Wilson 1988Homicide. Hawthorne, New York: Aldine de Gruyter.
de Waal, F. B. M. 1982Chimpanzee Politics: Power and Sex among Apes. New York: Harper and Row.
Dickemann, M. 1981 Paternal Confidence and Dowry Competition: A Biocultural Analysis of Purdah. InNatural Selection and Social Behavior: Recent Research and New Theory, R. D. Alexander and D. W. Tinkle, eds. Pp. 439–475. New York: Chiron Press.
Draper, P. 1991 Room to Maneuver: !Kung Women Cope with Men. InSanctions and Sanctuary: Cultural Perspectives on the Beating of Wives, D. Counts, J. K. Brown, and J. C. Campbell, eds. Boulder: Westview Press, in press.
Draper, P., and H. Harpending 1988 A Sociobiological Perspective on the Development of Human Reproductive Strategies. InSociobiological Perspectives on Human Development, K. MacDonald, ed. New York: Springer-Verlag.
Estrich, S. 1987Real Rape. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Finkelhor, D., and K. Yllo 1985License to Rape: Sexual Abuse of Wives. New York: Free Press.
Flinn, M., and B. Low 1986 Resource Distribution, Social Competition, and Mating Patterns in Human Societies. InEcological Aspects of Social Evolution, D. Rubenstein and R. W. Wrangham, eds. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Foley, R. A. 1989 The Evolution of Hominid Social Behavior. InComparative Socioecology, V. Standen and R. A. Foley, eds. Oxford: Blackwell.
Friedl, E. 1975Women and Men: An Anthropologist’s View. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Galdikas, B. M. F. 1985 Subadult Male Orangutan Sociality and Reproductive Behavior at Tanjung Puting.American Journal of Primatology 8:87–99.
Galdikas, B. M. F., and G. Teleki 1981 Variations in Subsistence Activities of Male and Female Pongids: New Perspectives on the Origins of Human Labor Divisions.Current Anthropology 22:241–256.
Gallin, R. S. 1991 Wife Abuse in the Context of Development and Change: A Chinese (Taiwanese) Case. InSanctions and Sanctuary: Cultural Perspectives on the Beating of Wives, D. Counts, J. K. Brown, and J. C. Campbell, eds. Boulder: Westview Press, in press.
Gelber, M. G. 1986Gender and Society in the New Guinea Highlands: An Anthropological Perspective on Antagonism toward Women. Boulder: Westview Press.
Goodall, J. 1986The Chimpanzees of Gombe: Patterns of Behavior. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Goodall, J., A. Bandora, E. Bergmann, C. Busse, H. Matama, E. Mpongo, A. Pierce, and D. Riss 1979 Inter-community Interactions in the Chimpanzee Population of the Gombe National Park. InThe Great Apes, D. A. Hamburg and E. R. McCown, eds. Pp. 13–53. Menlo Park: Benjamin/Cummings.
Gregor, T. 1990 Male Dominance and Sexual Coercion. InCultural Psychology, J. W. Stegler, R. A. Shweder, and G. Herdt, eds. Pp. 477–495. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Hammerstein, P., and G. A. Parker 1987 Sexual Selection: Games between the Sexes. InSexual Selection: Testing the Alternatives, J. W. Bradbury and M. B. Andersson, eds. Pp. 119–142. New York: John Wiley and Sons.
Hasegawa, T., and M. Hiraiwa-Hasegawa 1983 Opportunistic and Restrictive Matings among Wild Chimpanzees in the Mahale Mountains, Tanzania.Journal of Ethology 1:75–85.
Hausfater, G., and S. B. Hrdy, eds. 1984Infanticide: Comparative and Evolutionary Perspectives. Hawthorne, New York: Aldine de Gruyter.
Hewlett, B. 1991Intimate Fathers: The Nature and Context of Aka Pygmy Paternal Infant Care. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Hiatt, L. R. 1965Kinship and Conflict: A Study of an Aboriginal Community in Northern Arnhem Land. Canberra: Australian National University.
Hill, K., and H. Kaplan 1988 Trade-offs in Male and Female Reproductive Strategies among the Ache: Parts 1 and 2. InHuman Reproductive Behavior, L. Betzig, P. Turke, and M. Borgerhoff Mulder, eds. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Hrdy, S. B. 1977The Langurs of Abu: Female and Male Strategies of Reproduction. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
1979 Infanticide among Animals: A Review, Classification, and Examination of the Implications for the Reproductive Strategies of Females.Ethology and Sociobiology 1:13–40.
1981The Woman that Never Evolved. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
1986 Empathy, Polyandry, and the Myth of the Coy Female. InFeminist Approaches to Science, R. Bleier, ed. Pp. 119–146. New York: Pergamon Press.
Hutchings, N. 1988The Violent Family: Victimization of Women, Children, and Elders. New York: Human Sciences Press.
Irons, W. 1979 Investment and Primary Social Dyads. InEvolutionary Biology and Human Social Behavior: An Anthropological Perspective, N. A. Chagnon and W. Irons, eds. Pp. 181–213. North Scituate, Massachusetts: Duxbury Press.
1983 Human Female Reproductive Strategies. InSocial Behavior of Female Vertebrates, S. Wasser, ed. Pp. 169–213. New York: Academic Press.
Kaplan, J. R. 1977 Patterns of Fight Interference in Free-ranging Rhesus Monkeys.American Journal of Physical Anthropology 47:279–288.
Katz, M., and M. Konner 1981 The Role of the Father: An Anthropological Perspective. InThe Role of the Father in Child Development, M. Lamb, ed. Pp. 155–186. New York: John Wiley.
Kawanaka, K. 1981 Infanticide and Cannibalism in Chimpanzees with Special Reference to the Newly Observed Case in the Mahale Mountains.African Studies Monographs 1:69–99.
Keddy, A. C. 1986 Female Mate Choice in Vervet Monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops sabaeus).American Journal of Primatology 10:125–134.
Kerns, V. 1991 Preventing Violence against Women: A Central American Case. InSanctions and Sanctuary: Cultural Perspectives on the Beating of Wives, D. Counts, J. K. Brown, and J. C. Campbell, eds. Boulder: Westview Press, in press.
Koss, M. P., C. A. Gidycz, and N. Wisniewski 1987 The Scope of Rape: Incidence and Prevalence of Sexual Aggression and Victimization in a National Sample of Higher Education Students.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 55:162–170.
Kummer, H. 1968Social Organization of Hamadryas Baboons. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Kummer, H., W. Gotz, and W. Angst 1974 Triadic Differentiation: An Inhibitory Process Protecting Pair Bonds in Baboons.Behaviour 49:62–87.
Lamphere, L. 1974 Strategies, Cooperation, and Conflict among Women in Domestic Groups. InWomen, Culture,and Society, M. Z. Rosaldo and L. Lamphere, eds. Pp. 97–112. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Lancaster, J. B., and C. S. Lancaster 1983 Parental Investment: The Hominid Adaptation. InHow Humans Adapt: A Biocultural Odyssey, D. J. Ortner, ed. Pp. 33–56. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution.
Lateef, S. 1990 Rule by theDanda: Domestic Violence among Indo-Fijians.Pacific Studies 13:43–62.
Levi-Strauss, C. 1969The Elementary Structures of Kinship. Boston: Beacon Press. [originally published in 1949]
Levine, R. 1959 Gusii Sex Offenses: A Study in Social Control.American Anthropologist 61:956–990.
Levinson, D. 1989Family Violence in Cross-Cultural Perspective. Newbury Park, California: Sage.
Lewis, D. E. 1990 Tungara Conjugal Jealousy and Sexual Mutilation.Pacific Studies 13:115–126.
Lindburg, D. G. 1983 Mating Behavior and Estrus in the Indian Rhesus Monkey. InPerspectives on Primate Biology, P. K. Seth, ed. Pp. 45–61. New Delhi: Today and Tomorrow.
Llewelyn-Davis, M. 1981 Women, Warriors, and Patriarchs. InSexual Meanings: The Cultural Construction of Gender and Sexuality, S. B. Ortner and H. Whitehead, eds. Pp. 330–358. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Lovejoy, C. O. 1981 The Origin of Man.Science 211:341–350.
Manson, J. 1991Female Mate Choice in Cayo Santiago Rhesus Macaques. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Mathieu, N. 1989 When Yielding Is Not Consenting: Material and Psychic Determinants of Women’s Dominated Consciousness and Some of Their Interpretations in Ethnology, Part I.Feminist Issues 9:3–49.
1990 When Yielding Is Not Consenting: Material and Psychic Determinants of Women’s Dominated Consciousness and Some of Their Interpretations in Ethnology, Part II.Feminist Issues 10:51–90.
McGrew, W. G. 1981 The Female Chimpanzee as a Human Evolutionary Prototype. InWoman the Gatherer, F. Dahlberg, ed. Pp. 35–73. New Haven: Yale University Press.
McKee, L. 1991 Men’s Rights/Women’s Wrongs: Domestic Violence in Ecuador. InSanctions and Sanctuary: Cultural Perspectives on the Beating of Wives, D. Counts, J. K. Brown, and J. C. Campbell, eds. Boulder: Westview Press, in press.
Meggitt, M. J. 1962Desert People: A Study of the Walbiri Aborigines of Central Australia. Sydney: Angus and Robertson.
Miller, B. D. 1991 Wife-beating in India: Variations on a Theme. InSanctions and Sanctuary: Cultural Perspectives on the Beating of Wives, D. Counts, J. K. Brown, and J. C. Campbell, eds. Boulder: Westview Press, in press.
Mitani, J. C. 1985 Mating Behavior of Male Orangutans in the Kutai Reserve.Animal Behaviour 33:392–402.
Mitchell, W. E. 1990 Why Wape Men Don’t Beat Their Wives: Constraints toward Domestic Tranquility in a New Guinea Society.Pacific Studies 13:141–150.
Mukhopadhyay, C. C., and P. J. Higgins 1988 Anthropological Studies of Women’s Status Revisited: 1977–1987.Annual Review of Anthropology 17:461–495.
Murdock, G. P. 1949Social Structure. New York: Macmillan.
Murphy, Y., and R. F. Murphy 1985Women of the Forest, second ed. New York: Columbia University Press.
Musil, A. 1928The Manners and Customs of the Rwala Bedouins. New York: Charles Crane.
Nash, J. 1990 Factors Relating to Infrequent Domestic Violence among the Nagovisi.Pacific Studies 13:127–140.
Nero, K. L. 1990 The Hidden Pain: Drunkenness and Domestic Violence in Palau.Pacific Studies 13:63–92.
Nishida, T. 1979 The Social Structure of Chimpanzees of the Mahale Mountains. InThe Great Apes, D. A. Hamburg and E. R. McCown, eds. Pp. 73–122. Menlo Park: Benjamin/Cummings.
1983 Alpha Status and Agonistic Alliance in Wild Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii).Primates 24:318–336.
1990 A Quarter Century of Research in the Mahale Mountains: An Overview. InThe Chimpanzees of the Mahale Mountains: Sexual and Life History Strategies, T. Nishida, ed. Pp. 3–35. Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press.
Nishida, T., and M. Hiraiwa-Hasegawa 1985 Responses to a Stranger Mother-Son Pair in the Wild Chimpanzee: A Case Report.Primates 26:1–13.
1987 Chimpanzees and Bonobos: Relationships among Males. InPrimate Societies, B. B. Smuts, D. L. Cheney, R. M. Seyfarth, R. W. Wrangham, and T. T. Struhsaker, eds. Pp. 165–177. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Nishida, T., and K. Kawanaka 1985 Within-group Cannibalism by Adult Male Chimpanzees.Primates 26:274–284.
Nishida, T., H. Takasaki, and Y. Takahata 1990 Demography and Reproductive Profiles. InThe Chimpanzees of the Mahale Mountains: Sexual and Life History Strategies, T. Nishida, ed. Pp. 63–97. Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press.
Ortner, S. B. 1978 The Virgin and the State.Feminist Studies 4:19–37.
1981 Gender and Sexuality in Hierarchical Societies: The Case of Polynesia and Some Comparative Implications. InSexual Meanings: The Cultural Construction of Gender and Sexuality, S. B. Ortner and H. Whitehead, eds. Pp. 359–409. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
1991 Gender Hegemonies.Cultural Critique 14 (Winter):35–80.
Otterbein, K. 1970The Evolution of War. New Haven: Human Relations Area Files.
1979 A Cross-Cultural Study of Rape.Aggressive Behavior 5:425–435.
Peristiany, J. G., ed. 1966Honour and Shame: The Values of Mediterranean Society. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Pusey, A. E. 1979 Intercommunity Transfer of Chimpanzees in Gombe National Park. InThe Great Apes, D. A. Hamburg and E. R. McCown, eds. Pp. 465–480. Menlo Park: Benjamin/Cummings.
Quinn, N. 1977 Anthropological Studies on Women’s Status.Annual Review of Anthropology 6:181–225.
Raleigh, M. J., and M. T. McGuire 1989 Female Influences on Male Dominance Acquisition in Captive Vervet Monkeys,Cercopithecus aethiops sabaeus.Animal Behavior 38:59–67.
Ransom, T. W. 1981Beach Troop of the Gombe. Lewisburg, Pennsylvania: Bucknell University Press.
Rodman, P. S. 1984 Foraging and Social Systems of Orangutans and Chimpanzees. InAdaptations for Foraging in Nonhuman Primates: Contributions to an Organismal Biology of Prosimians, Monkeys, and Apes, P. S. Rodman and J. G. H. Cant, eds. Pp. 134–160. New York: Columbia University Press.
Rodseth, L., B. B. Smuts, A. M. Harrigan, and R. W. Wrangham 1991 The Human Community as a Primate Society: Reply to Comments.Current Anthropology 32:429–433.
Rodseth, L., R. W. Wrangham, A. M. Harrigan, and B. B. Smuts 1991 The Human Community as a Primate Society.Current Anthropology 32:221–254.
Rubin, G. 1975 The Traffic in Women: Notes on the “Political Economy” of Sex. InToward an Anthropology of Women, R. R. Reiter, ed. Pp. 157–210. New York: Monthly Review Press.
Russell, D. E. H. 1984Sexual Exploitation: Rape, Child Sexual Abuse, and Workplace Harassment. Newbury Park: Sage.
Sacks, K. 1975 Engels Revisited: Women, the Organization of Production, and Private Property. InToward an Anthropology of Women, R. R. Reiter, ed. Pp. 211–234. New York: Monthly Review Press.
Sanday, P. R. 1981 The Socio-Cultural Context of Rape: A Cross-Cultural Study.Journal of Social Issues 37:5–27.
1990Fraternity Gang Rape. New York: New York University Press.
Schlegel, A., and H. Barry 1986 The Cultural Consequences of Female Contributions to Subsistence.American Anthropologist 88:142–150.
Seyfarth, R. M. 1978 Social Relationships among Adult Male and Female Baboons, II. Behavior Throughout the Female Reproductive Cycle.Behaviour 64:227–247.
Shostak, M. 1981Nisa: The Life and Words of a !Kung Woman. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Sigg, H., A. Stolba, J. J. Abegglen, and V. Dasser 1982 Life History of Hamadryas Baboons: Physical Development, Infant Mortality, Reproductive Parameters and Family Relationships.Primates 23:473–487.
Smuts, B. B. 1985Sex and Friendship in Baboons. Hawthorne, New York: Aldine de Gruyter.
1987 Gender, Aggression, and Influence. InPrimate Societies, B. B. Smuts, D. L. Cheney, R. M. Seyfarth, R. W. Wrangham, and T. T. Struhsaker, eds. Pp. 400–412. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
1991 The Origins of Gender Inequality: An Evolutionary Perspective. InThe Foundations of Gender Inequality, A. Zagarell, ed. Kalamazoo: Western Michigan University Press (submitted).
Smuts, B. B. 1992 Psychological Adaptations, Development, and Individual Differences.Behavioral and Brain Sciences. (Commentary on R. Thornhill and N. Wilmsen Thornhill, “The Evolutionary Psychology of Men’s Coercive Sexuality,” submitted.
Smuts, B. B., and D. J. Gubernick 1990 Male-Infant Relationships in Nonhuman Primates: Paternal Investment or Mating Effort? InThe Father’s Role: Cultural and Evolutionary Perspectives, B. Hewlett, ed. Hawthorne, New York: Aldine de Gruyter, in press.
Smuts, B. B., and R. W. Smuts 1992 Male Aggression against Female Primates: Evidence and Theoretical Implications. InAdvances in the Study of Behavior, P. J. B. Slater, J. S. Rosenblatt, M. Milinski, and C. T. Snowdon, eds. New York: Academic Press, (submitted).
Sommer, V. 1990 Infanticide among the Langurs of Jodhpur: Testing the Sexual Selection Hypothesis with a Long-term Record. InProtection and Abuse of Young in Animals and Man, S. Parmigiani, B. Svare, and F. vom Saal, eds. London: Harwood Academic Publishers, in press.
Sommer, V., and L. S. Rajpurohit 1989 Male Reproductive Success in Harem Troops of Hanuman Langurs (Presbytis entellus) near Jodhpur (Rajasthan/India).Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 16:245–248.
Stewart, K. J., and A. H. Harcourt 1987 Gorillas: Variation in Female Relationships. InPrimate Societies, B. B. Smuts, D. L. Cheney, R. M. Seyfarth, R. W. Wrangham, and T. T. Struhsaker, eds. Pp. 155–164. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Strauss, M. A. 1978 Wife-beating: How Common and Why?Victimology 2:443–458.
Struhsaker, T. T., and L. Leland 1987 Colobines: Infanticide by Adult Males. InPrimate Societies, B. B. Smuts, D. L. Cheney, R. M. Seyfarth, R. W. Wrangham, and T. T. Struhsaker, eds. Pp. 83–97. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Strum, S. C. 1987Almost Human. New York: Random House.
Symons, D. 1979The Evolution of Human Sexuality. New York: Oxford University Press.
Tabet, P. 1982 Hands, Tools, Weapons.Feminist Issues 2:3–62.
Tanner, N. 1981On Becoming Human. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Trivers, R. L. 1972 Parental Investment and Sexual Selection. InSexual Selection and the Descent of Man, 1871–1971, B. Campbell, ed. Pp. 136–179. Chicago: Aldine.
Tutin, C. E. G. 1979 Mating Patterns and Reproductive Strategies in a Community of Wild Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii).Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 6:39–48.
van Schaik, C. P., and R. I. M. Dunbar 1990 The Evolution of Monogamy in Large Primates: A New Hypothesis and Some Crucial Tests.Behaviour 115:30–62.
Washburn, S. L., and C. S. Lancaster 1968 The Evolution of Hunting. InMan the Hunter, R. B. Lee and I. DeVore, eds. Pp. 293–303. Chicago: Aldine.
Watts, D. P. 1983Foraging Strategies and Socioecology of Mountain Gorillas (Pan gorilla beringei). Ph.D. dissertation, University of Chicago.
1989 Infanticide in Mountain Gorillas: New Cases and a Reconsideration of the Evidence.Ethology 81:1–18.
Whiting, J. W., and B. B. Whiting 1975 Aloofness and Intimacy between Husbands and Wives: A Cross-Cultural Study.Ethos 3:183–207.
Whyte, M. K. 1978The Status of Women in Preindustrial Societies. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Wolf, M. 1974 Chinese Women: Old Skills in a New Context. InToward an Anthropology of Women, R. R. Reiter, ed. Pp. 157–172. New York: Monthly Review Press.
Wrangham, R. W. 1975The Behavioural Ecology of Chimpanzees in Gombe National Park, Tanzania. Ph.D. dissertation, Cambridge University.
1979 On the Evolution of Ape Social Systems.Social Science Information 18:334–368.
1980 An Ecological Model of Female-bonded Groups.Behaviour 75:262–300.
1982 Kinship, Mutualism, and Social Evolution. InCurrent Problems in Sociobiology, King’s College Sociobiology Group, eds. Pp. 269–290. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
1987 Evolution of Social Structure. InPrimate Societies, B. B. Smuts, D. L. Cheney, R. M. Seyfarth, R. W. Wrangham, and T. T. Struhsaker, eds. Pp. 282–296. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Zihlman, A. H. 1981 Women as Shapers of the Human Adaptation. InWoman the Gatherer, F. Dahlberg, ed. Pp. 75–120. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
This paper was inspired by the pioneering work of Mildred Dickemann, Sarah Hrdy, and Richard Wrangham, who recognized the costs that male reproductive strategies impose on females.
This work was supported in part by National Science Foundation grant BNS-8857969.
Barbara Smuts is Associate Professor of Psychology and Anthropology, Associate Research Scientist at the Center for Human Growth and Development, and member of the Evolution and Human Behavior Program, University of Michigan. She received her B.A. in social anthropology at Harvard and her Ph.D. in biobehavioral sciences at Stanford Medical School. She has studied the behavior of wild chimpanzees, baboons, and bottlenose dolphins and is particularly interested in evolutionary, comparative analyses of female behavior.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Smuts, B. Male aggression against women. Human Nature 3, 1–44 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02692265
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02692265