Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution

Bohannon recalls seeking a phone job and finding out that it was for an escort service. The madam then encouraged her to become one of the employees there. She entertained the idea, not understanding why it would be such a problem for her to do sex work if it was just business to her. However, after her boyfriend threatened to end the relationship, she chose not to take the job, deciding that she would rather keep his love. Bohannon then explains that she is not the Eve of love, and there likely is not one; however, every female individual is an Eve, and all play a role in female human evolution. She thinks back to two things her mentors told her: First, people’s ability to love is what makes them human—not just romantically or sexually, but platonically as well. Second, both sex work and marriage come from apes trading meat for sex. Scientists and other people have tried to discover the true nature of love and sex, but no one has been able to agree.

Bohannon dismisses polygyny as the dominant evolutionary origin of human love and sex because humans do not have the physical markers of a polygynous species. Unlike gorillas, humans do not have large canines used to intimidate competing males or the overwhelming difference in weight between the sexes. The ancestors who were larger and had harems were most likely distant ancestors before the formation of hominins. Thus, she concludes that polygyny is a recent development in human sexuality. She then explores the possibility of hominins being promiscuous like chimpanzees and bonobos. Bohannon notes, however, that male individuals have medium-sized testicles and that promiscuous primates have large testicles. Promiscuous male mammals will also use a seminal plug to cover a female’s cervix. Humans do not produce this plug. Bohannon then wonders if hominins’ evolutionary past involved rape. Though male chimpanzees are sometimes coercive and physically abusive toward female partners, hominin anatomy and primatology do not show rape as a common behavior.

Hominin males also do not appear to have been highly competitive, with scientists believing that hominins developed monogamy to protect females’ children in exchange for sexual exclusivity. However, the danger of infanticide by males was common, and so female primates use promiscuity to protect their babies. Male-dominated primate species such as chimps and gorillas frequently killed opponents’ babies, and to prevent infanticide, early hominins needed to be matriarchal. Bonobos are highly promiscuous, but babies’ paternity is unknown. They are also highly protective of their babies. To answer the question of how monogamy started, Bohannon theorizes that dominant males formed relationships with females’ babies, as seen with baboons, and, like geladas, formed male-dominant groups. She then hypothesizes that as hominins evolved and childbirth became more dangerous, females chose to become monogamous in exchange for protection for their babies.

Bohannon believes that female individuals were essential in the dominant model of humanity, switching from matriarchal and matrilineal to patriarchal and patrilineal. She hypothesizes that female individuals agreed to allow male dominance and sexism as a compromise. She also uses the commonality of internalized misogyny as an example of how women contribute to misogyny and patriarchal structures. However, Bohannon asserts that sexism has outlived its evolutionary usefulness and is making humans less healthy, less prosperous, and less intelligent.

The double standards of patriarchal sexual mores, which reward male promiscuity but punish female promiscuity, have led to an increase in sexually transmitted diseases, of which male individuals tend to experience fewer symptoms. Sexism has also led to more cases of child marriage and people having children far sooner than is safe for them, leading to higher maternal and child mortality rates. Medical misogyny and restrictions on female reproductive choice have harmed female individuals greatly, making it more difficult for them to live to have healthy children. Sexism has also limited communities’ prosperity by keeping female individuals from obtaining educations and contributing to their communities’ wealth. Male individuals are more likely to spend money on weapons, entertainment, and gambling, while female individuals are more likely to spend money on healthcare, childcare, food, clothing, and education. The lack of female individuals in education and the professional world is limiting communities’ and the world’s economic potential, as seen with the difference between Kerala, which is prospering and has a large number of educated female individuals, and Bihar, which has fewer educated female individuals and has less prosperity. Furthermore, malnourishment makes it harder for children’s brains to grow. Indian states where young female individuals are made to eat last have large numbers of malnourished female individuals. Female malnourishment also reduces the brain health of mothers and their babies. In addition, cultures with higher gender equality, such as the Arab world during Islam’s Golden Age in the Middle Ages, have seen greater gender equality and large amounts of innovation along with high education and literacy levels. Meanwhile, places where female education is undervalued often suffer from lack of education and innovations.

Bohannon says that eliminating sexism will be difficult, but it must be done because it is hurting the human race and the world. She says that it is possible, but people must combat disasters like climate change that will make these problems worse, and horrible people can endanger progress and create long-lasting problems for humanity as it tries to combat problems like sexism.

Bohannon says that humans must use their social skills, problem-solving skills, and institutions to combat sexism and the problems to which it contributes. She then talks about explaining this to the madam who tried to pimp her. She adds that the madam likely did not see her actions as wrong and that she does not hold any animosity toward her. She says she would explain to the madam that she should donate her large amounts of money to female education and female healthcare. She then concludes that female individuals give male individuals much of the power over them and assures her female audience that they can stop giving away their power.