Evo Psych and menstruation
I've done a few posts on this blog about Evolutionary Psychology, which I despise. I don't disagree that evolution has had an impact on our psychology, but the way that EvoPsych describes that impact is quite wrong in my opinion. And, like economics and philosophy, it is tainted by modern politics.
I've wanted to write this post for ages but the best example I can think of to illustrate my point is the social example of a menstrual taboo. And I have been inhibited because it feels too, I don't know, in-your-face feminist or something. Nevertheless, I want to post more on lj, I want to stop being so inhibited. So, below the cut, is my discussion of Evo Psych, with menstruation as an example.
In Evo Psych the mind is an information processing organ, and it is organised into discrete modules, with a measurable input and an output. These modules have arisen as the result of evolutionary adaptation, related to success in reproduction. The widespread taboo against menstruation (in sex and, from that, general social hiding and shaming) is because this sex is unlikely to result in conception. Therefore an inhibition has evolved to stop it happening.
Menstruation arose quite late in human evolution (as it is not shared with our close relatives). For this theory to work, the adaptive advantage to men of avoiding the occasional bout of unreproductive sex was so great that an innate inhibition has evolved during that relatively brief time. Though male inhibition against other forms of unreproductive sex, like (say) oral sex has not evolved. Obviously.
I find this extremely unpersuasive.
Here is my alternative explanation. Seeing, tasting and smelling blood has strong emotional associations, which go back to before mammals evolved. Sharks, lizards, wolves feel it. The drive to have sex is huge and also ancient. When human beings began menstruating (due to a change in reproductive cycle) these two massive and ancient drives clashed. Feelings were complex and contradictory. The strong and confusing feelings are the psychological effects of evolution.
Social taboos about menstruation are ways of coping with those strong feelings, bringing them under control.
That is my explanation. It is also 'evolutionary' in that it acknowledges we are evolved creatures, with evolved brains. But it presents us as confused and anxious animals. We develop psychological and social strategies to reduce our anxiety. These strategies are not always rational. Some are harmful. I think that is a more accurate evolutionary psychology.
I also think that Evo Psych, by emphasising functional reproduction and de-emphasising social and emotional issues, is itself a way that men hide their own vulnerability. It is itself a strategy to reduce anxiety.
I've wanted to write this post for ages but the best example I can think of to illustrate my point is the social example of a menstrual taboo. And I have been inhibited because it feels too, I don't know, in-your-face feminist or something. Nevertheless, I want to post more on lj, I want to stop being so inhibited. So, below the cut, is my discussion of Evo Psych, with menstruation as an example.
In Evo Psych the mind is an information processing organ, and it is organised into discrete modules, with a measurable input and an output. These modules have arisen as the result of evolutionary adaptation, related to success in reproduction. The widespread taboo against menstruation (in sex and, from that, general social hiding and shaming) is because this sex is unlikely to result in conception. Therefore an inhibition has evolved to stop it happening.
Menstruation arose quite late in human evolution (as it is not shared with our close relatives). For this theory to work, the adaptive advantage to men of avoiding the occasional bout of unreproductive sex was so great that an innate inhibition has evolved during that relatively brief time. Though male inhibition against other forms of unreproductive sex, like (say) oral sex has not evolved. Obviously.
I find this extremely unpersuasive.
Here is my alternative explanation. Seeing, tasting and smelling blood has strong emotional associations, which go back to before mammals evolved. Sharks, lizards, wolves feel it. The drive to have sex is huge and also ancient. When human beings began menstruating (due to a change in reproductive cycle) these two massive and ancient drives clashed. Feelings were complex and contradictory. The strong and confusing feelings are the psychological effects of evolution.
Social taboos about menstruation are ways of coping with those strong feelings, bringing them under control.
That is my explanation. It is also 'evolutionary' in that it acknowledges we are evolved creatures, with evolved brains. But it presents us as confused and anxious animals. We develop psychological and social strategies to reduce our anxiety. These strategies are not always rational. Some are harmful. I think that is a more accurate evolutionary psychology.
I also think that Evo Psych, by emphasising functional reproduction and de-emphasising social and emotional issues, is itself a way that men hide their own vulnerability. It is itself a strategy to reduce anxiety.