Robert Stark

Psychology

Final Paper

The Biological and Cultural Forces that Differentiate Males and Females Males and females have been different throughout history. The question we study is why and what drives them to be different. There are two forces that make us unique, which are biological and cultural. Studies show that male selections throughout the world are being analyzed studies done by scientists, biologists and sociologists to psychologists. Three books I used to understand this question are “The Third Chimpanzee: The evolution and future of the human animal” by Jared Diamond, “Same Difference: How gender, myths are hurting our relationships, our children, and our jobs” by Rosalind C. Barnett, and “Our Kind” by Marvin Harris. Some questions aren’t just about the biological and cultural aspect but about the social norms as well. In what ways are males and females different? Also what ways are they similar? These questions all can be answered going back to the beginning of time. Evolution is something we need to understand because it is responsible for the observable differences between males and females. A question that everyone wonders is, how did we get here? Jared Diamond’s “The Third Chimpanzee” answers this question. A strong theory comes from Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection and adaptation. Even though species are all different in its own nature they play a special role in life. The species that have the traits to allow them to survive in the environment will be able to reproduce which is mutation, or “survival of the fittest”. Humans take for granted that we aren’t the species of the world. We share this wonderful place with many other species, even though we are considered the dominant species. Humans started agriculture, and mainly began and expressed some kind of language. This allowed us to better understand