The Economics of Sex
Men and women have different biological roles in reproduction: women
produce a single egg each month, whereas men produce millions of sperm
every day.
This fact may not be news to you. However, this biological difference has
led to men and women to evolve different reproductive strategies... and so it
has a surprising influence on the sexual behavior of men and women.
Examining our differing reproductive roles explains the important reasons for
these behavioral differences.
A man has more sperm than he can get rid of and his goal from a biological
standpoint is just to replicate his genes as much as possible. It would
therefore make sense for him to impregnate every woman he could because if
any one child didn‘t survive and didn‘t go on to reproduce, it hasn‘t cost him
very much energy at all. The lost energy is more than made up for by the
sheer volume he can achieve.
On the other hand, because women produce so few eggs (or ―reproductive
units‖), they end up investing a lot more of their time and resources than that
of the opposite sex. She must invest not only in the production of one egg, but
also in the long term: pregnancy, child-birth, feeding, caring, etc. A woman
has to value each egg very highly because of how much energy she puts into
it.
With so much at stake in each attempt at reproduction, a woman must first
choose her investment carefully. Secondly, she must also try to ensure the
success of every child she has.
Women have developed biological methods to maximize both the quality of
the men with whom she chooses to reproduce, and the odds that they will help
stick around and help protect her investment.
To make sure she gets the best ―reproductive value‖ possible, women have
developed a number of barriers, twists, and turns designed to keep ―weak‖
sperm out.
Only the healthiest sperm will make it past her barbs, pitfalls, and chemical
blockades.
Though interesting, this is only one type of test women have developed (a
physical one). There are also the unconscious, psychological tests she uses to
determine your genetic value. (In the later chapters of this book, I‘ll also show
you how to handle these kinds of tests.)