To get the girl

To get the girl
为了女孩的依归

Fighting off rivals may be responsible for masculine traits
打败对手成就男性特质

May 20th 2010 | From The Economist print edition

Evolutionary forces at workWHEN two drunken men fight over a woman, alcohol and stupidity may not be the only things at work. Sadly, evolution may have shaped men to behave this way. Almost all of the traits considered to be masculine―big muscles, facial hair, square jaws, deep voices and a propensity to violence―evolved, it now seems, specifically for their usefulness in fighting off or intimidating other men, allowing the winner to get the girl.
两个醉汉为了一个女人大打出手，也许不单单出自酒精和愚蠢，进化的力量不容抹杀。悲哀的是，很可能就是进化把男人塑造成这副样子的。大块肌肉、胡须、方下巴、低沉的声音以及暴力倾向，几乎所有被视为男性阳刚象征的特质都是进化来的，如今看来，这些特质在击败和吓退其它男人时格外有用，最终的赢家抱得美人归。


Evolutionary forces at work
进化的力量不容抹杀

That, at least, is the contention of David Puts, an anthropologist at Pennsylvania State University, in an upcoming paper in Evolution and Human Behavior. Dr Puts is looking at how sexual selection gave rise to certain human traits. A trait is sexually selected if it evolved specifically to enhance mating success. They come in two main forms: weapons, such as an elk's horns are used to fight off competitors; and ornaments, like a peacock's tail, which are used to advertise genetic fitness to attract the opposite sex.

至少，宾西法尼亚大学的人类学家戴维•普茨就持有这种观点，在他即将问世的论文《进化与人类行为》中可见一斑。普茨博士一直在探讨性选择如何提升人类的某些特质。如果一种特质进化成特别有助于交配成功，那么这种特质就是经过性选择的。它们表现出两种主要形式：一种是武器，象麋鹿的角，用来击退竞争对手；一种是装饰，象孔雀的尾屏，在在宣告吸引异性的优良基因。

Researchers have tended to consider human sexual selection through the lens of the female's choice of her mate. But human males look a lot more like animals designed to battle with one another for access to females, says Dr Puts. On average, men have 40% more fat-free mass than women, which is similar to the difference in gorillas, a species in which males unquestionably compete with other males for exclusive sexual access to females. In species whose males do not fight for access to females, males are generally the same size as, or smaller than, females.

研究人员倾向于透过女人对配偶的选择来细思人类的性选择。不过男人看起来更象动物多一些，动物为了雌性的使用权而与另一个同类决战，普茨断言。平均说来男人比女人多了40％以上的去脂体重，有种大猩猩也有类似的差异，而雄猩猩为了在性方面独占群内的所有雌猩猩，它毫不迟疑地赶走其它雄性。其它雄性不会冲冠一怒为红颜的大猩猩种类，通常雄性在体型上与雌性相仿，或者略小于雌性。

The heavier brow and jaw of males might have developed to withstand blows from other males. (In prehistoric times, a broken jaw could have ended up being a fatal injury.) Heavy eyebrows, facial hair and deep voices all could serve to make a man more imposing to other men. Dr Puts does not dismiss mate selection outright. Women are attracted to some of the same traits that are good for dominating支配 other men because they signal that the man will sire sons who will also be successful at mating. But female choice probably is not the primary cause of the traits.

雄性的宽额和下巴可能已练就经得起其它雄性的摔打。（史前时期，一个破裂的下巴可能会和致命伤划上等号。）浓眉、胡子和低沉的声音都能使一名男子比其他男子更显气概。普茨教授并未完全回避择偶的作用。有着上述特质的男子更容易支配其它男子，女子受其中某些特质的吸引，因为这些特质标志着这名男子在传宗接代方面也会更容易结出硕果。但是雌性的选择或许并非这些特质的主要成因。

It is a disturbing idea to modern minds, harking back to old stereotypes about violent cavemen battling with clubs while a passive woman, fetching in furs, waits helplessly to see who will win her. But Dr Puts emphasises that evolutionary biology is not destiny. Regardless of our evolutionary past, in modern societies men and women freely choose their mates. However, understanding the evolutionary pressures that made men the way they are could help us better understand male violence, including murder, domestic abuse, gang violence and perhaps even warfare.

用现代思想来匡衡，那真是一个令人不安的想法，想着回到老套的过去，充满暴力的山顶洞人手持棍棒打斗，而被动的女人围着皮草，无助地等在一边想知道自个究竟花落谁家。然而普茨博士强调进化生物学并非定数。撇开进化，现在社会的男男女女可以自由地选择配偶。然而，了解进化的压力迫使男性然其所然，有助于我们更好地了解男性暴力，包括凶杀、家暴、帮派暴力，甚或是战争。