Evolution of Rape One of the Most

¶ … Evolution of Rape

One of the most controversial theories in evolutionary psychology is the idea that men have evolved a rape adaptation. This is considered a controversial notion because when this theory was introduced many people felt as if it was an attempt to provide excuse or justification for rape. For many years, sexual assault advocates focused on the idea that rape was about violence, not about sex, and it seemed as if the evolutionary idea might challenge that notion. However, that rape might be an evolutionary adaptation does not make it a moral or justifiable act, after all, there are undeniably evolutionary adaptations for situationally-dependent murder, but murder is universally considered immoral. Instead of viewing it as a reason to excuse rape, approaching rape as if there is a possibility that men have evolved a rape adaptation may actually help social scientist develop ways to decrease the frequency of sexual assaults.

There are a number of reasons that researchers suggest that sexual assault may be an evolutionary adaptation. One of the more interesting concepts is that there are animals that have actually physiologically evolved in order to perpetrate sexual assaults, showing that rape can be an evolutionary adaptation in other species (Buss, 2007). Moreover, researchers point to the fact that there appears to be a specialized rape strategy in orangutans, a great ape which would then lend more credence to the idea of humans having a rape adaptation (Buss, 2007). Proponents of rape as a product of evolution either view it as a specialized adaptation or a by-product that occurred as the result of adaptation of non-sexual assault specific mechanisms. To support the idea that rape is a specialized adaptation, researchers have suggested that targeting more vulnerable victims, the overrepresentation of rapists in "loser" male populations, a preference for fertile rape victims, an increase in sperm counts in rape ejaculates when compared to consensual sex ejaculates, sexual arousal linked to female resistance, and spousal rape in response to suspicion of infidelity (Buss, 2007). The by-product theory suggests that rape may be the result of a male desire for sexual variety, a desire for sex without investment, sensitivity to sexual opportunities, and an overall willingness to use physical aggression (Buss, 2007).

What is interesting is that evidence of rape in war-time seems to suggest some type of rape adaptation in men, but does not indicate whether it is a specialized adaptation or a by-product of other evolutionary mechanisms. The mass rapes in both Sudan and the Congo certainly support the idea of men who are situational rapists, and bolster the idea that men are more likely to rape in wartime than in other times. However, humans have understood that rape has been used as a weapon of war since humans began documenting war. In past times, it was not an uncommon practice to kill all adult males and enslave children and women, using the women sexually. Rape has also been used as an intentional method of dominance to keep subservient populations in that position, as evidenced by the fact that one would be hard-pressed to find a modern African-American with no white ancestry. However, whether the atrocities have been the result of sociological adaptations or biological adaptation is an issue that is not resolved. That said, the idea that rape has evolutionary adaptations is very intriguing and is supported by the fact that many apparent non-rapists will rape in opportunistic scenarios.

Reading Nicholas Kristof's accounts of the brutality currently occurring in the Nuba Mountains, the frequency and brutality of the sexual assaults speaks to depravity, but it actually seems to argue against the idea of rape as an evolutionary adaptation because the rapes are accompanied by brutal beatings that seem to frequently result in death (Kristof, 2012). Killing the rape victim would not have a positive evolutionary benefit; in fact, any level of extreme violence towards the victim, which might impair conception or her ability to carry a pregnancy full-term, would be maladaptive from an evolutionary perspective. Moreover, the frequency with which these rapes are perpetrated as gang rapes would seem to argue against an evolutionary theory, since that would actually decrease the likelihood that a resulting pregnancy was due to a particular man. Finally, when one looks at the murder and starvation surrounding those rapes, they do seem like an extension of violence with sex simply as a weapon, not a goal. The problem with these examples is that rape can be an evolutionary adaptation, and, because men, or at least some men, might then be hard-wired to rape, it could still interact with outside social factors to result in different expressions of rape in different contexts. Thus, highly violent rapes in a war environment might result in a high number of deaths of women that the men have deemed inferior to them, which would be positive for the males' social group, and, in those scenarios when it did not, then those women who became pregnant and carried babies to term would carry on the DNA of their rapists.