*** Quoting BARBARA SHAFFERMAN from a message to RICH VERAA ***
BS> Boy, that testosterone is powerful stuff! I guess, then, that in a  
BS> group of women and unchallenged, every man feels he must become an  
BS> alpha. It certainly reflects animal behavior in all the nature 
BS> programs  I've seen. One would think that in a "civilized, evolved" 
BS> society, men  would have outgrown that. As a woman, I find this hard 
BS> to understand,  especially with so much lip service given to 
BS> "equality".
Trouble is, it's part of the hard wiring.  NO matter how "civilised" we are 
(and the jury is still out on that) we can't overcome the hard wiring by 
wishing for it.  The basic animal bhaviour has been around for millions of 
years, and civilised training has been around for a few thousand.  The new 
version of equality hasn't even been around for three generations.  Genuine 
equality doesn't fight against the natural construction, but takes advantage 
of it.  Men and women have been equal before, there have been matriarchies, 
there have been patriarchies, and there have been matrilineal patriarchies - 
all version are viable, but none can do away with basic instinctual 
behaviour.  The man doesn't necessarily  *think*  he has to become an alpha, 
he speaks and the women defer to him.  IN a setting like that I tend to be 
the alpha -- it isn't a conscious decision or anything I deliberately try to 
do, it just happens because of the way people react to me.  Men who are 
confident in themselves tend to be quite comfortable with this - men who are 
insecure tend to challenge me on ineffective points in order to demonstrate 
that I'm "only female"   So it isn't a hard and fast rule, it's a tendency.  
Men tend to take over without realising they're doing it, women tend to defer 
without realising they're doing it, but it doesn't always happen, just as 
primate groups can be led by a matriarch without the alpha male being deposed 
if the circumstances and personalities fit.
--- Telegard/2 v3.09.b18/mL
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