Evolution is a myth. Well, let’s take a step back. Evolution with regard to homo sapiens evolving from cro-magnons is not what we are talking about here. No, the point of this discussion is the evolution of gender roles.

People are under the impression that as centuries advance we make discoveries and become more enlightened. Somehow, we are constantly coming closer to our ideal selves and moving further and further away from our neanderthal roots, although there are debates about our relationship with neanderthals.

What we seem to forget in all of this is that we are still human. Men don’t have babies (usually) and women have these things that hang off them and are able to produce milk for a short time, on-demand. We are entirely dependent on nourishment and rest and can easily die for lack of either. Gravity, that’s another one. Oh, and then there is air. Some things are constant. We need them to survive.

Evolution evokes the notion that we can somehow escape our more basic needs. This is obviously a fallacy. People are still people. We exist to procreate. That’s pretty much it. We live with intelligence because we are basically weak and this is our one way to survive against predators and the elements. We need the ability to think so that we can outwit creatures that are stronger and faster; so that we can survive extreme weather and even just plain winter and summer; and so that we can build shelter and find or grow food. With it we have the ability to debate our purpose for being and how we fit in to the grander scheme of things.

Naturally, we want to feel that we are at the top of the pyramid, food chain, whatever. We are the sun and the navel, etc. We also rationalize that there are things that we cannot comprehend and that anything bigger, better than us must invariably be godlike or else it would be inferior. Ultimately, we must constantly strive to be better, to evolve. Evolve both individually and in our relationships with each other.

We disregard that we are basically human. We procreate and become incapacitated. When offspring enter the equation we realize that somebody has to mind the children and protect the home. This means that somebody else has to go out and get food and supplies. The creatures that come out of us, being mammals, must still feed from the mother for some time and she must heal from the wound of birth-giving. She is incapacitated, though people did come up with slings and things so that the little darlings can suckle as the tribe moves on or as she plows the field. Still, a woman must nurture and so she is more nurturing. This is instinctual though not genetic. Some women would rather eat their young than have them pulling at their teets or skirts. Men are left to forage, though some have always been weaker than their female counterparts. 

Let us pause for a second and ask this. Were the Amazons really such an aberration? If we are so far advanced in the sexual revolution, sorry evolution, why does ancient Greek mythology speak of a time before Zeus when all the most dominant and strongest gods were female? They were so powerful and loved that some would not be destroyed and the most that could be done was to subjugate him. So, Aphrodite was still the goddess of love and Hera became Zeus’, admittedly much older, wife, full of anger, malice, spite, and every other negative emotion that you can use to attribute to women. They were made into whores and hags.

People have evolved. We are stronger, live longer, and are better able to inflict unspeakable damage on more than just our own small planet. Space is cluttered with evidence of refuse from our trip to enlightenment. But have we ever moved passed the need to stop, nurture, feed, rest? We are still human and gender roles have not changed all that much. They are as cyclical as global warming. We live in the now and forget that eons have overtaken many civilizations. We rise and fall and women and men are locked in a sometimes silent war for supremacy. There is no evolution. Only struggle. A necessary struggle because absolute power does corrupt absolutely and people are dependent on change as a means of survival.