Until the late 1970s, most evolutionary biologists assumed that females were shy, coy and very choosy when it came to their sexual behavior while males were more promiscuous and active. A landmark study by primatologist Sarah Hrdy changed this way of thinking, and now, new research is not only confirming this theory, but adding to it.
“Brooke Scelza, a human behavioral ecologist at the University of California–Los Angeles, contends in Evolutionary Anthropology that not only do human females seek out multiple sexual partners as an evolutionary strategy, they opportunistically shift that strategy depending on the environmental context,” writes Slate’s Eric Michael Johnson. “In other words, female sexuality is not so much blindly promiscuous as it is pragmatic.”
Read the full, original story: Female promiscuity in primates: When do women have multiple partners?
Additional Resources:
- “The genetic benefits of female promiscuity,” RealClearScience
- “Promiscuous birds produce genetically stronger offspring, study shows,” CBS News
