Women

The History of Evolution's Teaching of Women's Inferiority

Author:Sayantan Mukherjee

Date: 05/14 Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith

A review of the most prominent late nineteenth century evolutionist writings, focusing on Charles Darwin, reveals that a major plank of evolution theory was the belief of intellectual and physical inferiority of women. This belief resulted from a logical deduction of the natural selection world view: men were exposed to far greater selective pressures than women, especially in war and competition for mates, food, and clothing. Therefore, they evolved further. Conversely, women were protected from evolutionary selection by historical norms which dictated that men were to provide for and protect women and children. Natural selection would consequently operate far more actively on males, producing male superiority in virtually all skill areas. Although culture was also influential, beliefs have often been more important than fossil and other evidence in the

specifics of evolutionary theory. The implications of this history for Christianity are also discussed.

A key aspect of Darwinism is survival of the fittest, requiring group differences from which nature can select. The inferior groups were more likely to be come extinct; the superior groups thrived and left more offspring.1 The biological racism that resulted from naturalistic evolution theory has now been both well documented and widely publicized. Especially influential in the development of biological racism, and the tragedy that it brought civilization, was the theory of eugenics developed by Charles Darwin's cousin, Francis Galton.2 Less widely known is that many evolutionists, including Darwin, taught that women were biologically and intellectually inferior to men. The intelligence gap that Darwinists believed existed between men and women was so significant that some evolutionists classified men and women into two distinct psychological species: males...