From John Bates
In trying to explain higher rates of pregnancy among rape victims, Jon and
Tiffany Gottschall inadvertently assume that the blame must lie with women.
Before surmising that rape victims might be sending out subtle signals when
ovulating, surely the researchers should have considered whether tendency to
rape is correlated with higher levels of testosterone and hence higher levels of
fertility in the male?
It also seems unwise to me to suggest that higher pregnancy rates imply an
evolutionary advantage, without considering the disadvantages of higher rates of
termination, emotional trauma in childhood and behaviourally deficient genes.
The test of evolutionary advantage is surely whether or not a behaviour produces
successful adult offspring, not just pregnancies.
Leeds
