TEXT C The females of our closest
primate relatives, the chimpanzees, are not exactly paragons of sexual probity.
A recent DNA study of behavior in the forest of Africa’s Ivory Coast showed that
despite the hurrying of local males, the wily females were stealing off so often
that half their offspring turn out to be fathered by outsiders. Of bonobos,
perhaps the less said the better, at least in a family magazine. These "pygmy
chimps", as they are also known, share 98% of our genes and a tendency to what
Freud termed "polymorphous perversity". They will have sex with anyone, male of
female as readily as we humans shake hands and apparently for the same
purpose. The interesting thing is that female promiscuity seems
to be a reproductively advantageous trait, which may explain why it prevails in
the animal world. The more males a female prairie dog mates with, for example,
the more likely she is to conceive and the larger her litters. Angier reports on
data, still disputed, that suggest human females are more likely to get pregnant
for sex with an adulterous lover than from sex with their spouse.
So, to the extent that females relied on male help in raising a family,
the smartest female reproductive strategy may have involved no less treachery
than the male one: behave promiscuously, so you’ll be sure to get pregnant, but
pretend to be monogamous professing undying love -- so that at least one of the
fellows will think the kids are his and possibly take an interest in them. Hey,
it fooled the evolutionary psychologists! Men fall for pretty
faces, women fall for healthy portfolios Here’s another object lesson sometimes
drawn from the evolutionary allegory of Monica and Bill: men go for beautiful
women, while women are attracted to power and money, even when it comes in a
fat, gray-haired middle-bound millionaire husband, there are more cases like
ex-playmate Anna Nicole Smith and her late, wheelchair-bound millionaire
husband, there are like elementary school teacher Mary Letourneau and her
13-year-old boyfriend. But since men tend to accrue wealth and power as they
age, it’s a bit odd, as zoologist Desmond Moils once noted, that baleness
doesn’t necessarily activate the feminine positive response. It may be smart for
women to go for the billionaires and tribal big shots, but in practice their
choices are often politically and economically irrational, if not
self-destructive. For example, Juliet fell for a scion of the enemy clan. In
rock-and-roll tradition and movies from The Wild One to Shakespeare in Love.
It’s the penniless who makes the girls scream -- and did anyone see
Titanic There is in fact a respectable evolutionary rationale
for such "irrational" female choices. Women may want loyal, provider-type mates
to help them raise their children. But if their sons are not attractive to other
women -- and hence keep the lineage thriving -- it might help if dad is a
heartbreaker himself. Unfortunately, though, physical attractiveness is not a
reliable guide to reproductive "fitness", as in health and wealth. Consider the
peacock, its gorgeous tail renders it fairly vulnerable to predators, so any
peahen with a concern for her sons’ longevity should opt for a more modestly
cute one. In the last paragraph the author cites the example of beautiful peacocks with gorgeous tails to mean ______.
A.a female who favors cute clothes B.a male who likes cute clothes C.an animal that favors many friends D.a male who is cute but not rich