Philalethes #7 - All Female Populations in the Animal Kingdom

Quote: "The topic of all female populations in the animal kingdom is fascinating."

Certainly, and even more, crucial to understanding “gender issues.” For me, as I said, this discovery was the key; once I got that, everything else fell into place.

Quote: "A friend of mine told me the other day of a lizard population that is all female."

One such species lives in the desert here in New Mexico. Haven’t seen any myself, though. Another I have seen: the common dandelion. Worth noting, however, that so far as I know there is no such female-only species among the birds and mammals, the fast-moving, intelligent (well, relatively), warm-blooded species. So it’s not clear how far feminism can go in this reverse-evolution scheme.

Quote: "He said that if the lizards were removed from their environments that they die immediately. Without the male they have lost all adaptability."

Well, not quite all, I suppose, but they would evolve very slowly, by comparison. I have a newspaper article about geckos, the ubiquitous lizards of tropical Asia and Pacific islands: Seems that some island populations became isolated long enough to take this step and lose their males, but now with frequent human travel between the islands the species are mixing again, and the female-only species are losing out in every encounter with the male female species. Can’t compete. That’s the tradeoff: comfort and security for adaptability and variety — a.k.a. the “spice of life.” A while ago a woman told me she’d quit being a lesbian because in the end the lifestyle was just terminally boring. And there’s nothing she can’t stand more than boredom — after all, that’s why she created this whole show in the first place.

Yes, the Ancients knew a lot we seem to have forgotten. For instance, according to Cato the Elder (234-149 BCE), "If you allow them [women] to pull away the restraints and put themselves on an equality with their husbands, do you imagine that you will be able to tolerate them? From the moment that they become your fellows, they will become your masters." MISOGYNY!! (See, if you yell loud enough, nobody’ll try to figure out if there’s any truth to it.)
.
Previous Philalethes Index Next