I was watching the Frame channel on cable, which was featuring Elk Island National Park and the bison there, in particular. Thought of how many women would respond to the young bison in an instinctive, automatic oxytocin way: “Aw, cute”.
Conversely, how many males would respond and have historically responded to the distinctive horns and hides, thinking “I’d sure like one of those”, imagining a wasteful trophy killing. No wonder buffalo were shot from 1800s trains, an easy-pickens practice that nearly decimated the once-great herds.
(You can see this killing instinct in young boys from bugs to small animals. An often instinctive urge to kill–something that has made it possible for millions of men to kill others in wars and, globally, throughout history. In this irrational urge to destroy, too, can be glimpsed man’s violence toward women.)
Two basic, recurring, timeless, genetically-programmed, gender responses: “Aw, cute” and “Kill it.” Explains a lot, I thought.