A Hunter-Gatherer's Guide to the 21st Century: Evolution and the Challenges of Modern Life

by Heather E. Heying

What might we learn from these truths? We can learn that gender roles can be re-upped for modernity: some men will prefer hearth and home to a grueling career that is facilitated by having a spouse taking care of the domestic duties, and some women will prefer the latter. But many men and women, we argue, will prefer to be restricted to neither domain—without being slotted into preconceived roles, many people of both sexes will prefer a partner who is their equal, without being identical. We can learn from a more nuanced understanding of “gendered work” that traditionalist appeals to women not working outside of the home, or to men being dominant in economic and business matters, are regressive, without any nugget of necessity or truth. Historically, women and men have had division of labor, both in family units and in societies, but other than those tasks mandated by anatomy and physiology (gestation, lactation), there is little in the modern world that some women might not choose to do. Similarly, men are ever more welcome in traditionally female fields such as nursing and teaching, although we shouldn’t expect parity there either. Different preferences lead to different choices. Pretending that we are identical, rather than ensuring that we are equal under the law, is a fool’s game.