evolutionary process, these solar heaters grew larger. The same structure that was
good for maximum sunlight absorption – lots of surface area, little weight – also,
by coincidence, gave the insects a bit of a lift when they skipped and jumped.
Those with bigger protrusions could skip and jump farther. Some insects started
using the things to glide, and from there it was a small step to wings that could
actually propel the bug through the air. Next time a mosquito buzzes in your ear,
accuse her of unnatural behaviour. If she were well
behaved and content with
what God gave her, she’d use her wings only as solar panels.
The same sort of multitasking applies to our sexual organs and behaviour. Sex
rst evolved for procreation and courtship rituals as a way of sizing up the tness
of a potential mate. But many animals now put both to use for a multitude of
social purposes that have little to do with creating little copies of themselves.
Chimpanzees, for example, use sex to cement political alliances, establish intimacy
and defuse tensions. Is that unnatural?
Sex and Gender
There is little sense, then, in arguing that the natural function of women is to give
birth, or that homosexuality is unnatural.
Most of the laws, norms, rights and
obligations that de ne manhood and womanhood
re ect human imagination
more than biological reality.
Biologically, humans are divided into males and females. A male
Homo sapiens
is one who has one X chromosome and one Y chromosome; a female is one with
two Xs. But ‘man’ and woman’ name social, not biological, categories. While in
the great majority of cases in most human societies men are males and women are
females, the social terms carry a lot of baggage that has only a tenuous, if any,
relationship to the biological terms. A man is not a Sapiens with particular
biological qualities
such as XY chromosomes, testicles and lots of testosterone.
Rather, he ts into a particular slot in his society’s imagined human order. His
culture’s myths assign him particular masculine roles (like engaging in politics),
rights (like voting) and duties (like military service). Likewise, a woman is not a
Sapiens with two X chromosomes, a womb and plenty of oestrogen. Rather, she is
a female member of an imagined human order. The myths of her society assign
her unique feminine roles (raising children), rights (protection against violence)
and duties (obedience to her husband). Since myths, rather than biology, de ne
the roles, rights and duties of men and women, the meaning of ‘manhood’ and
‘womanhood’ have varied immensely from one society to another.