Evolution, Gender, and Rape

Are women and men biologically destined to be in perpetual conflict? Does evolutionary genetics adequately explain sexual aggression? Such questions have been much debated in both the media and academia. In particular, the notion that rape is an evolutionary adaptation, put forth by Randy Thornhill and Craig T. Palmer in their book A Natural History of Rape (MIT Press, 2000), vaulted the debate into national prominence. This book assesses Thornhill and Palmer's ideas, as well as the critical responses to their work. Drawing on theory and data from anthropology, behavioral ecology, evolutionary biology, primatology, psychology, and sociology, the essays explain the flaws and limitations of a strictly biological model of rape. They argue that traditionally stereotyped gender roles are grounded more in culture than in differing biological reproductive roles.

The book is divided into three parts. The first part, "Evolutionary Models and Gender," addresses broad theoretical and methodological issues of evolutionary theory and sociobiology. Part 2, "Critiquing Evolutionary Models of Rape," addresses specific propositions of Thornhill and Palmer, making explicit their unexamined assumptions and challenging the scientific bases for their conclusions. It also considers other studies on biological gender differences. Part 3, "Integrative Cultural Models of Gender and Rape," offers alternative models of rape, which incorporate psychology and cultural systems, as well as a broader interpretation of evolutionary theory.

Leading a group of determined scholars, Travis-professor of psychology and chair of women's studies at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville-conducts a comprehensive refutation of A Natural History of Rape by biologist Randy Thornhill and anthropologist Craig T. Palmer (2000), which proposed that men are biologically predisposed to raping women because (in our evolutionary past) the act supposedly increased men's chances of reproducing. Contributors to this book regard the duo as evolutionary psychologists who practice unsound, narrow-minded science. The critiques aimed at Thornhill and Palmer include their dismissal of feminist arguments that rape has as much to do with dominance as it does with sex, their refusal to seriously account for sociocultural factors that affect rape rates, their use of data on scorpion-fly mating as correlational to human behavior and their lack of data comparing the reproductive success of rapists to nonrapists. Some of the thinkers offer compelling alternatives. One research team offers the theory that forces in family structures, school, work and the individual interconnect to shape rape's incidence. Most of the contributors write for fellow academics, though "Of Vice and Men: A Case Study of Evolutionary Psychology" is accessible, and "What Is `Rape'?: Toward a Historical, Ethnographic Approach" shows in clear language how biases can shape scientific observation. Even evolutionary straw mama "Primeval Pru" makes an appearance, with her perennial dilemma over choosing a suitable mate. Though the book is separated into 17 distinct sections, there's plenty of overlap in contributors' critiques, which highlights the collection's message that rape is a phenomenon that requires an interdisciplinary approach. Yet while contributors argue that media coverage of A Natural History exploited the public's desire for easy answers to abhorrent social behavior, too much of their own prose here is intimidating and unwieldy.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.