Dec 18, 2022
War Piece
Queens were more likely to start wars than kings; Post-WW2, women leaders have been less likely to be in conflicts than men.
Table of Contents
· Women’s Reigns (War: 1480–1913)
· Women’s Reigns (Peace: 1960–1994 [2010s])
· Women & War (Caprioli & Boyer, 2001)
· Women’s Political Utilitarianism (via ReflectUS)
· The war in Afghanistan is now over
· Sidenotes
∘ Japan’s Suffrage 1945
· Obama, Barack: A Promised Land.
· Mean Girls: · Shelby Hughes et al., 2021
· Epistemologies of Culture — Raghavendra Gadagkar, 2017
· Leader of Peace
∘ President Zelenskyy of Ukraine to US Congress — 3.16.2022
Women’s Reigns (War: 1480–1913)
Dube & Harish (2015) analyzed the reigns of 28 European queens from 1480 to 1913 & found that there was a 27% increase in wars when a queen was in power. Married queens were more likely to attack whereas single queens were more likely to be attacked.
Queens were more likely to fight in wars than kings, and queens were more likely to start wars.
Women’s Reigns (Peace: 1960–1994 [2010s])
Of 24 women leaders from 1960–1994, only 4 of them (16.67%) were involved in international crises at any point during their reign & “as the percent of women in a legislature increases by 5%, a state is nearly 5x (4.86) less likely to use violence” (Caprioli & Boyer, 2001, p. 514).
SoCal Lab UCSD ➡ In an ongoing reanalysis & partial replication of Caprioli & Boyer’s (2001) study, we found that female leaders from 1960 to the 2010s were less likely to be involved in international crises during their reigns.
An unpublished study by Laurel Stone (2015) found that, of 182 peace agreements signed between 1989 & 2011, the one’s that included women enjoyed greater success.
When women are part of peace negotiations, agreements are 20% more likely to last at least 2 years & 35% more likely to last 15 years (Laurel Stone, 2015).
It is increasingly acknowledged that the inclusion of women in peace negotiations make them more likely to become agreements & more durable over time (Addams, 2021; Buranajaroenkij, 2020; Chrystia Freeland, 2017; Julianne Windham, 2019 ; Krause et al., 2018; Nazary et al., 2020; O’Reilly et al., 2015; Pelham et al., 2021; Thania Paffenholz et al., 2016).
When it comes to armed conflict, Stone (2014) found that “women’s participation could increase the probability of violence ending within one year by 24.9%.”
An archival study by Paffenholz (2015) successfully replicated Stone’s (2015) finding by demonstrating that 40 political and peace negotiations from 1989 to 2014 had more success when women were involved.
“In practically all realms of foreign & domestic policy, women are less belligerent than men” (Page & Shapiro 1992, p. 295).
Women & War (Caprioli & Boyer, 2001)
“As the percentage of women in the legislature increases by 5%, a state is nearly 5 times (4.86) less likely to use violence” (Caproli & Boyer, 2001, p. 514).
However, the presence of a female leader increases the severity of violence in a crisis.
Male Chivalry socialization + female President/leader = Majority male military fighting for a female leader are extremely motivated not to let her down = female leaders see an increase in violence when they’re engaged in international military conflict.
Though the odds of female leaders getting into conflicts of that nature are far lower than men’s.
“Only 16.6% of the countries led by a woman were involved in international crises at any point during the period of female leadership, and none of these female leaders initiated the crises.”
“White (1988): males engage in power struggles for personal gain, whereas females attempt to minimize power differences, share resources, and treat others equally.”
Caprioli, M., & Boyer, M. A. (2001). Gender, violence, and international crisis. Journal of Conflict Resolution, 45(4), 503–518.
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Political Local/National Divide
— “Women tend to be more interested in political issues focused on more local, community-oriented politics, while men turn toward national and international issues (Coffe, 2013; Sanchez-Vitores, 2018).
Phua, Jin, & Kim (2017): Twitter users report higher levels of intergroup communication predicated on information sharing, while Facebook users tend toward communication intended to strengthen existing relationships and deepen emotional ties.”
Koc-Michalska, K., Schiffrin, A., Lopez, A., Boulianne, S., & Bimber, B. (2021). From online political posting to mansplaining: The gender gap and social media in political discussion. Social Science Computer Review, 39(2), 197–210.
Women’s Political Utilitarianism (via ReflectUS)
‘Women’s bills are more likely to pass’ “when they secure a White male cosponsor to their legislation” (Hannah McVeigh, 2020). “Of the 13 bills from the 8 women who passed laws, 10 had a White male cosponsor & all 10 were bipartisan (GovTrack, 19)” (Kathryn Harrington, ReflectUS, et al., 2021, June 24).
“If a woman political leader is replaced by a man, he will continue to advocate for issues specific to women more often than men representing districts that were never held by women” (Thomsen & Sanders, 2019).
“Women represented 23.5% of Congress during that same year, yet nearly 35% of new members who had bills enacted into law were women, demonstrating women’s ability to pass legislation” (Reflect_US, 2021).
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The war in Afghanistan is now over
“The war in #Afghanistan is now over.
No country in history has done more to help the residents of another country leave than we have done.
To those who offer to welcome Afghan allies into their homes around the world & in America, we thank you.
What is the vital national interest? We only have one: to make sure Afghanistan can never again be used to launch an attack on our homeland.
We delivered justice to OBL on May 2nd, 2011.
We succeeded in what we had set out to do in Afghanistan over a decade ago…
then we stayed for another decade. It’s time to end this war.
We’ll maintain a fight against terrorism in Afghanistan & other places, but we don’t need boots on the ground to do it. We have over the horizon capabilities.
Targeted — unforgiving — precise strategy.
We’re ending an era of major military operations to remake other countries. [Our initial strategy/mission morphed/launched] into #NationBuilding. I refuse to continue a war that was no longer in the national interest of Americans.
The war in Afghanistan is now over.”
— President Biden —
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Sidenotes
Bride Price
Brideprice is a predictor of state instability as terrorist groups have an easier time recruiting young men when brideprices rise, crimes against women increase, including human trafficking, and female minors may see a reduction in rights relative to their same-age brothers (Hudson & Matfess, 2017).
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Japan’s Suffrage 1945
“Adultery committed by a wife was recognized grounds for divorce, while adultery on the husband’s part could only be a reason for divorce if he were found guilty of the crime of illicit intercourse” (Japan 1898–1947).
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Obama, Barack: A Promised Land.
Crown. Kindle Edition.
“Opportunities for women and girls across the globe directly supports everyone’s security and prosperity” (p. 569).
“…the value of harnessing new technologies in the developing world, a 10% increase in the penetration rate for mobile phones in a developing country can lead to an increase in GDP per capita of between .6 and 1.2%. That translates to billions of dollars and countless jobs”
— ¨for the improvement of national stability and development. For example, women have been shown to perform well as leaders and representatives of their people. When women are encouraged to participate in decision making activities, they often provide balance and mediate discussions that result in productive solutions. They can be powerful role models to children and are often more focused on health care and education than are men. In addition, women are known to foster economic growth and development in their communities, especially when their male counterparts have been killed, imprisoned, drug addicted, or travel for work (Global Gender Gap Report, 2011; USAID, 2011).
A series of Foreign Policy articles underscores this perspective by highlighting the roles of women globally and how they facilitate growth in their nations: “. . . promoting the status of women is not just a moral imperative but a strategic one; it’s essential to economic prosperity and to global peace and security” (Verveer, 2012, p. 1).
The United Nations’ Security Council (2000) viewed gender considerations important in resolving worldwide conflict. In response, the council adopted Resolution 1325, which details steps that will help maintain international security. The resolution focuses on the significant roles women have in peace development and preventing conflict throughout the world. Specific gender issues considered by the UN Security Council are increased participation of women in decision making, implementing protective measures for rights of women and girls, mainstreaming a gender perspective throughout field operations, expanding women’s roles in operations throughout the world, and focusing on measures to reduce gender-based violence.
Mean Girls
Girls are more likely to use relational aggression (Archer, 2004; Cairns et al., 1989; Donoghue and Raia-Hawrylak, 2016; Zimmer-Gembeck, Nesdale, et al., 2013) & are more relationally victimized than males (Crick & Bigbee, 1998; Crick, Ostrov, & Kawabata, 2007) as relational aggression facilitates the formation of peer relationships due to others wanting to affiliate with high-status peers (e.g., The Plastics) (Vaillancourt & Hymel, 2006; Vaillancourt & Krems, 2018).
But in adulthood wives are more likely than husbands to use relational aggression (Panagiota Ira Bitsola & Kyranides, 2021).
Casper et al., 2020
- “Popular early adolescent girls more relationally aggressive & this relational aggression leads to increased popularity over time (Rose, Swenson, & Carlson, 2004). This savvy navigation of the peer context requires social skills that are perhaps admired by peers, thus explaining the increase in popularity over time. Thus, evidence points to relational aggression as both a product (Bellmore, Villarreal, & Ho, 2011; Ferguson et al., 2016) and a source of popularity (Rose et al., 2004).”
Shelby Hughes et al., 2021
- Reputation info affects how men view someone due to paternal uncertainty
- The people lesbians are trying to attract aren’t concerned about that/ won’t be as influenced by rumors-gossip as straight men
= Lesbians are less likely to criticize another woman wearing sexy clothes.
Easier to Recover From Straight Men’s Infidelity (Robert Weiss, 2017)
“Women are more likely to cheat when their primary relationship is not going well, and that type of already-troubled connection might not be worth the pain and effort required to rebuild relationship trust, emotional intimacy, and long-term harmony.
This is why a relationship damaged by a man’s infidelity might be more likely to survive after infidelity is uncovered, as opposed to when a woman has cheated.”
“When fathers enacted or espoused a more egalitarian distribution of household labor, their daughters in particular expressed a greater interest in working outside the home and having a less stereotypic occupation. Fathers’ implicit gender role associations also uniquely predicted daughters’ (but not sons’) occupational preferences” (Alyssa Croft et al., 2014).
“Growing up in America has been such a blessing, and you know, although in some ways I do stand out, such as the hijab I wear on my head, the head covering… there’s still so many ways that I feel so embedded in the fabric that is, you know, our culture. And that’s the beautiful thing here, is that it doesn’t matter where you come from. There’s so many different people from so many different places of different backgrounds and religions, but here we’re all one, one culture.”
— Yusor
We have a way of preserving cultural knowledge over time that has allowed us to technologically exploit our modern environment to an extent we just don’t see with other species.
Epistemologies of Culture — Raghavendra Gadagkar, 2017
Culture as an Extended Phenotype
“What we perceive as culture is really an extended phenotype and therefore, ultimately the product of genes. Thus all culture is ultimately tethered to genes, however, remotely. The phrase, extended phenotype, was introduced by Richard Dawkins who famously described the burrows of worms and nests of birds as extended phenotypes (Dawkins 1982).
One great advantage of this attitude is that it automatically unifies the study of biology and culture. Such a priori unification of the study of biology and culture may be a great advantage in the study of worms and birds for example. And the experience of a unified study of biology and culture in animals may eventually be an equally great advantage in the study of human culture.
At the very least, I think at least some of us should persist with this attitude and see how far we can go with it. Perhaps it would be a long while before we are forced to abandon it. Only such persistence will let us discover the limits of such a conception of culture.
Culture evolves independent of bio / gene evolution
In this conception, perhaps the most widespread, there is culture and it evolves (changes by discernible rules, not nomological) but independent of biological evolution by natural selection. Fashions, clothing, music, smoking, drug (ab)use are the most favourite examples that are used to promote this point of view.
Memes are a useful metaphor though memes are analogous to genes, not identical to genes.
Evolution requires interindividual transmission and cultural traits (memes) can transmit through well defined rules, and can transmit both vertically (down the generations) and also horizontally (between individuals of the same generation).
This is made possible because transmission is not through biological inheritance but by copying, imitation, teaching, learning, proselytising and coercion.
Rates of transmission can be understood by logic similar to that used for biological evolution. The cost and benefits of adopting cultural traits (adaptation) could be
increased fitness in the form of social prestige.
[Social prestige = greater social media influence = the person is a more efficacious transmitter of that trait, and possibly ancillary traits (e.g., people doing the workouts that LeBron James posts on social media) & unrelated traits (e.g., LeBron James doing commercials for TMobile).
In short,] we can develop a theory of cultural evolution without invoking biological inheritance or even biology itself.
Cultural evolution IS biological evolution
This conception embraces the principles of gene-culture coevolution. Genetic predispositions influence which cultural traits are adopted and spread. Culture can similarly feedback and significantly influence the spread of genes.
The coevolution of lactose tolerance and dairy farming in humans is a classic & well-studied example.
Lactose tolerance & intolerance are determined by allelic variations in genes involved in producing lactase, the enzyme needed to digest milk. There is clear empirical evidence for a correlation between lactose tolerance and the history of dairy farming across the globe (Cavalli-Sforza and Feldman, 1981; Boyd and Richerson, 1985; Durham, 1991; Feldman and Laland, 1996).
In short, genes and culture feedback on each other, often in an imperfect manner.
[How would this apply to multiracials?]
Consequences of Culture
The fundamental consequences of culture are evident, and yet rather poorly understood.
One is that the number of offspring is no longer an adequate currency of fitness. This may simply mean that quality of offspring is more important than quantity. Just as building a nest may increase hatchling survival in a bird, [investing in higher education,] amassing wealth, and/or social prestige may do the same for human offspring. But it is not clear whether this is the entire story.
Even more interesting is the possibility that culture can directly increase the probability that people have children. I cannot imagine that adults who are biologically fit to have children will ever voluntarily refrain from having them in a cultural environment [in which the consequence of childlessness is social condemnation].
Another is that culture can make us maladapted to the current environment. When a cultural practice originated it might have been useful (i.e., initially contributed to fitness but became neutral or even harmful as the environment changed).
Many important paradigms of study such as the hygiene hypothesis are based on such an assumption.”
Gadagkar, R. (2017). The evolution of culture (or the lack thereof): mapping the conceptual space. Journal of genetics, 96(3), 513–516.
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Leader of Peace
President Zelenskyy of Ukraine to US Congress — 3.16.2022
“And as the leader of my nation, I’m addressing the President Biden, you are the leader of the nation, of your great nation. I wish you to be the leader of the world. Being the leader of the world means to be the leader of peace. Thank you. Slava Ukraini.”
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