Just came across two stories – one a study in the New Scientist on the effect on primate brains of socialization between genders and the other a report in the Christian Science Monitor about rural Indian women’s co-operative business ventures raising the ire of some men folk. It may be that there is no connection between the two but one reminded me of the other. Although the scientific study warns that "comparing our brain structures to those of other primates is "too messy" because our brains are radically different from those of our primate cousins," could there be some connection at a broad level between societal norms regarding gender mixing and how smart men are? It will be interesting if biologists and cultural anthropologists conducted a study on the human male brain to see if what is true for primates, to some extent applies to the human male also. Whether men in aggressively patriarchal societies which segregate the sexes culturally, indeed show brain patterns similar to the male gorilla and those growing up in more egalitarian settings and are exposed to easy socialization with females resemble chimps and gibbons. It should not be hard – we know where to look for the two types of men.
From the New Scientist:
A comparison of brains from 21 primate species, including gorillas and chimps, suggests that those with greater male-on-male competition have more brain matter devoted to aggression and coordination. Whereas those species in which there is more social mixing between males and females have evolved bigger brains with higher-level thinking.
For example, gorillas are considered as a highly competitive because females weigh about 80 kilograms on average, whereas males weigh roughly 150 kg. "Gorillas have a big size difference, and the males compete pretty heavily because they have a sort of harem system" in which the most dominant males get the majority of the female mates, explains Lindenfors.
By comparison, female and male chimpanzees weigh about 40 and 50 kilograms, respectively, making this species appear less competitive. While dominant male chimps have more female mates, low-ranking males still have a reasonable shot at finding a mating partner.
There is almost no difference between male and female body size when it comes to gibbons, a type of small ape found in Asia. Gibbons form monogamous mating pairs, so there is very little competition among males for females.
In previous research, Lindenfors’ group has shown that primate species that have groups with many females also tend to have larger neocortex brain regions, which help in higher-level thinking and emotions. Primates with the most sociable females evolved a larger neocortex, suggesting that female social skills may yield the biggest brains for the species as a whole.
Now read how some men got smarter after they learnt to accept the success and aspirations of their women while others can’t let go of their gorilla nature.
When Phulbasin Yadav and 11 other women set aside $3 a month to start a business, skeptical elders turned the town against them.
When Ms. Yadav learned to ride a bicycle, traveling between villages to set up health clinics and offer hot meals for children, her husband threw her out of the house, saying she was ignoring her duties at home.
And when she and her colleagues won the contract to run the local market, the businessman who lost the bid promised to kill them.
Business in Sukuldhain had always been a man’s world. But today, Yadav is president of a districtwide network of women’s groups with businesses ranging from mines to concrete works – totaling half a million dollars in assets. And, sometimes, when she comes home from hard day at work, her husband has tea and a hot meal ready for her.
Now in a position of power, these groups have begun to change the district one village at a time. They have stopped 570 child marriages, by Yadav’s count. They have offered dowries to poor families whose daughters would otherwise be shunned. They have paid for school uniforms and taken over fair-price stores that were cheating poor villagers.
In short, they have done exactly what they were intended to do, says Dinesh Shrivastava, who championed the groups when he was district collector here several years ago. "Women are the best agents for social change," he says. "They have made a revolution."
In a country where government corruption and inefficiency often hamper progress, Shrivastava’s program is an example of how politicians can be a force for good. "This is a first step toward good governance," says Rajkumar Rai, head of the local office of CARE, an international aid organization. "It is very grassroots."
The challenge is maintaining it. The new district collector is not nearly as supportive as Mr. Shrivastava was, group members say, and men are increasingly trying to exploit the void by taking over women’s businesses.
"We need strong women," says Yadav. "That doesn’t happen everywhere."
Accidental Blogger 
