Sunday, 2 October 2016

Who is going to wear the dress tonight dear


 
 In the jungle of New Guinea there are teams of scientists cataloguing various new species of insects and vertebrate before they become extinct (that's the insect not the scientist)
The lush impenetrable undergrowth, isolated tribal communities, fierce rivers to cross, the heat and those pesky mosquito's.
It always amazes me that people will not only put themselves through physical hell but the enthusiasm  if not ecstasy at the sight of some new grub or the freakish features of a bat which the scientist swoon over.
High in the trees the camera man sits, lens trained on a the male bird, bright plumage extended out on an eye catching display to attract the interest of the dowdy looking female. It seems a role reversal to what goes on in our human interaction where the woman dons the extravagant clothing or paints her face to elevate certain features which are culturally valued. Men tend to dress down outside the office and rush for the loose fitting sports shirt.
Why in nature has evolution chosen to dominate the male plumage with such a magnificent display of colour and finery, why does nature leave it to the male to concoct the dance, the show, whilst we homo sapient do the opposite. Perhaps the answer lies within the name, to be what Homer Simpson would describe as "a sap".
What ever we think, it goes to show that the even in nature the roles we play as male and female are different and designed to embellish that difference. Only the homo-sapient has 'over thought' the circumstances of his/her role and decided to rewrite the evolutionary book to fit a political ideology.

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