Michael Gurven and Kim Hill, who have catalogued the reasons women don’t hunt, suggest that women avoid hunting as the risk of death rises. This is important to a group’s overall survival, because losing a mother is far more dangerous for a child than losing a father. In some societies and environments, hunting isn’t just dangerous; it can also take women far away from their home base for days at a time. If the culture does not provide enough support for women in terms of child care or other work, a woman may simply be unable to put in as many hours as a man to perfect her skills, making her a
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