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The idea that boys need exposure to women before adulthood, with the exception of their mother, is a relatively modern one. The extent to which the modern west

The idea that boys need exposure to women before adulthood, with the exception of their mother, is a relatively modern one. The extent to which the modern west mixes the sexes through education and other social activities is unprecedented, so the Middle East is not nearly alone in this respect. Of course, things change in adulthood, and if young Middle Eastern men who would normally be entering stable relationships with women are prevented from doing so, I can imagine how that would enable angry jihadists. But at that age, the blame probably lies with other social/economic factors and less with their family unit. And the effect that marriage has on the behavior of men is fairly well-known: http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/inspired-life/wp/2015/04/02/dont-be-a-bachelor-why-married-men-work-harder-and-smarter-and-make-more-money/?postshare=3351429127355739 http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/inspired-life/wp/2015/04/...

hackuser 11y ago
> The idea that boys need exposure to women before adulthood, with the exception of their mother, is a relatively modern one. The extent to which the modern west mixes the sexes through education and other social activities is unprecedented, so the Middle East is not nearly alone in this respect. That's true, but if the prosperity and peace of the modern west also are relatively modern and unusual, perhaps the exposure to women has a positive effect.
- hbhakhra 11y ago
  There have been so many factors that have changed in relatively modern times, that this is one time to say correlation doesn't equal causation.
  - Ntrails 11y ago
    But we certainly shouldn't discount the possibility that there is a causal link.
- panglott 11y ago
  At the same time, it seems like marriage is much more costly and difficult for men to achieve in much of the Middle East/South Asia. So you still have a larger population of unmarried men without many marriage prospects.
lifeisstillgood 11y ago
The major restraining factor on young men in a village or tribal setting was always the rest of the village. When the demographics became unbalanced (war, famine) then young gangs were always to be feared (Peter Pans lost boys would not have been cute) We are fortunate in having overcome hunger in 4/5ths of the world - but it has left a lot of time on people's hands compared to a hunter gather lifestyle and a lot of unsupervised time similarly That said - holy moley! this is insane! But does this work for other sexual choice communities? I suppose there must have been class divides where "working class" men were more likely to go to jail so changing the sexual choice landscape? Gay men?! Ex-military? Prior to public transport was there geographic boundaries? Education? This is a fascinating subject - why are black women limiting themselves to a reduced choice of black men when presumably other races are open? What is it that makes that choice / boundaries? Clearly parental type must have a big impact, but what else? This is an indictment of US post-slavery culture to be sure, but thinking about it it is massively wider in scope. Any pointers to research on this?
- haliou 11y ago
  I remember a debate about high achieving black women "marrying down" (with school dropout black guys on low income) or "marrying out" with white guys. Attitude seems to be changing for the better anyway. Here's also an article [0] on the subject that cause quite a stir back in 2011. [0]:http://www.npr.org/2011/06/29/137499303/author-tells-black-women-marry-out-not-down http://www.npr.org/2011/06/29/137499303/author-tells-black-w...
  - marincounty 11y ago
    I read that article, and articles like it. They all leave out one thing, and I'll get hammered for stating this, and it's only my hummable opinion. As much as people want to to homogenize the sexes, their are differences in factors that determine desirability. Powerful women(degrees, income, position in society, etc.) are judged differently in my surrounding(I said in my surroundings, antidotal, don't kill me); than powerful men. Are a lot of women are attracted to powerful men--yes, for the majority. Unless the man has horrid genes, and even then they line up. The man with the biggest cave still seems to attract to most--especially later in life. It works in the opposite direction for women. I have never met a man(except in scripts, on t.v.) that judges women on degrees, or wealth, or status in society. I have never heard a man say, "I find women in power/authority sexy!" I don't know why. I hope it changes. I just think we forget about millions of years of biology--men are looking for good genes, a kind disposition--maybe someone to raise the spawn? Yes, it's wrong. I'm just tired of hearing "Why is she single--she is so accomplished?" Yes, I hope it changes. Go ahead kill me. There's too many examples to list, and it's politically incorrect to even talk about. Again, I'm sorry if I offended anyone.

hackuser 11y ago

> The idea that boys need exposure to women before adulthood, with the exception of their mother, is a relatively modern one. The extent to which the modern west mixes the sexes through education and other social activities is unprecedented, so the Middle East is not nearly alone in this respect. That's true, but if the prosperity and peace of the modern west also are relatively modern and unusual, perhaps the exposure to women has a positive effect.

hbhakhra 11y ago
There have been so many factors that have changed in relatively modern times, that this is one time to say correlation doesn't equal causation.
- Ntrails 11y ago
  But we certainly shouldn't discount the possibility that there is a causal link.
panglott 11y ago
At the same time, it seems like marriage is much more costly and difficult for men to achieve in much of the Middle East/South Asia. So you still have a larger population of unmarried men without many marriage prospects.

lifeisstillgood 11y ago

The major restraining factor on young men in a village or tribal setting was always the rest of the village. When the demographics became unbalanced (war, famine) then young gangs were always to be feared (Peter Pans lost boys would not have been cute) We are fortunate in having overcome hunger in 4/5ths of the world - but it has left a lot of time on people's hands compared to a hunter gather lifestyle and a lot of unsupervised time similarly That said - holy moley! this is insane! But does this work for other sexual choice communities? I suppose there must have been class divides where "working class" men were more likely to go to jail so changing the sexual choice landscape? Gay men?! Ex-military? Prior to public transport was there geographic boundaries? Education? This is a fascinating subject - why are black women limiting themselves to a reduced choice of black men when presumably other races are open? What is it that makes that choice / boundaries? Clearly parental type must have a big impact, but what else? This is an indictment of US post-slavery culture to be sure, but thinking about it it is massively wider in scope. Any pointers to research on this?

haliou 11y ago
I remember a debate about high achieving black women "marrying down" (with school dropout black guys on low income) or "marrying out" with white guys. Attitude seems to be changing for the better anyway. Here's also an article [0] on the subject that cause quite a stir back in 2011. [0]:http://www.npr.org/2011/06/29/137499303/author-tells-black-women-marry-out-not-down http://www.npr.org/2011/06/29/137499303/author-tells-black-w...
- marincounty 11y ago
  I read that article, and articles like it. They all leave out one thing, and I'll get hammered for stating this, and it's only my hummable opinion. As much as people want to to homogenize the sexes, their are differences in factors that determine desirability. Powerful women(degrees, income, position in society, etc.) are judged differently in my surrounding(I said in my surroundings, antidotal, don't kill me); than powerful men. Are a lot of women are attracted to powerful men--yes, for the majority. Unless the man has horrid genes, and even then they line up. The man with the biggest cave still seems to attract to most--especially later in life. It works in the opposite direction for women. I have never met a man(except in scripts, on t.v.) that judges women on degrees, or wealth, or status in society. I have never heard a man say, "I find women in power/authority sexy!" I don't know why. I hope it changes. I just think we forget about millions of years of biology--men are looking for good genes, a kind disposition--maybe someone to raise the spawn? Yes, it's wrong. I'm just tired of hearing "Why is she single--she is so accomplished?" Yes, I hope it changes. Go ahead kill me. There's too many examples to list, and it's politically incorrect to even talk about. Again, I'm sorry if I offended anyone.