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Describe and Evaluate the Evolutionary Explanation of Gender Roles (8+16)

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Describe and evaluate the evolutionary explanation of gender roles (8+16)

One way in which the evolutionary theory can explain how gender roles differ can be explained by mate choice. Men tend to look for women with small waists and bigger hips as it shows fertility. They also look for signs of healthiness such as smooth skin, glossy hair, and red lips. Women also seek signs of healthiness and youth but are more concerned in looking for a male that is able to provide resources for them. This can explain why women take care of themselves more and try to make themselves look as youthful as possible, whereas men promote themselves as successful and hardworking. By both genders adopting these roles, individuals are attracting partners that will increase the survival of their offspring and increase reproductive success.
A study to support this idea of mate choice being related to evolutionary advantages was carried out by Singh (1993). In a series of studies done by Singh, men used waist to hip ratio (WHR) and fat distribution to determine a woman’s attractiveness. In his first study, men were shown a series of 12 drawings of women with various WHR’s and body fat distribution. Drawings with normal body fat distribution and a moderate WHR were associated with the most positive traits (i.e. attractive, sexy, intelligent and healthy). The drawings with the low WHR were not associated with any positive traits except youthfulness. Singh found that men have a preference for women with a small WHR as it shows good child bearing qualities. Which makes sense because the more fertile the female, the chance of continuing your species evidently increases. This is a strength of the evolutionary explanation of gender roles as it shows evidence that men look for signs of fertility and youth of their female partners due to increasing reproductive success therefore proving that mate

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