Antoinette Brown Blackwell

Autor(en)
Elisabeth Oberzaucher
Abstrakt

The theory of asymmetric parental investment is traditionally attributed to Robert Trivers, and his publication in 1972. This publication builds strongly on the ideas published by Antoinette Brown Blackwell a century before in her book. The Sexes Throughout Nature. She sent her book to Charles Darwin, who did not recognize the potential of these ideas to lead out of some conceptual traps of the Darwinistic evolutionary theory. Trivers does not refer to Brown Blackwell, which might be due to the fact that this publication never met the recognition it would have merited. The current study addresses this issue: how would the sciences of the sexes have benefited from an earlier recognition of the concepts presented by Brown Blackwell? To what extent was research inspired by her thoughts? Would the theory on asymmetric investment have taken a different direction had science been aware of her ideas? What can science today learn from Brown Blackwell's ideas to further develop the concept of asymmetric parental investment? One major difference between Trivers and Brown Blackwell is that the latter differentiates the sexes according to their parental investment, whereas Trivers clearly attributes higher investment to women and lower investment to men. As not in all human cultures, nor in all nonhuman animal species female investment is higher. the narrative of traditional gender roles and its biological basis needs to be revisited.

Organisation(en)
Department für Verhaltens- und Kognitionsbiologie
Journal
Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences
Band
14
Seiten
92-99
Anzahl der Seiten
8
ISSN
2330-2925
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1037/ebs0000180
Publikationsdatum
01-2020
Peer-reviewed
Ja
ÖFOS 2012
106051 Verhaltensbiologie
Schlagwörter
ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete
Experimental and Cognitive Psychology, Social Psychology
Link zum Portal
https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/de/publications/antoinette-brown-blackwell(63f43e34-cbcd-40a4-a0b0-30c393102ef5).html