An Examination of Gender Asymmetry in Divorce: An Extension of Fisher's Thesis

In: The Journal of social, political and economic studies, Band 28, Heft 4, S. 451-486

Abstract

Fisher profiled the broad outlines of the relationship between men & women in the "sex contract": courting, marriage, & divorce. This article examines selected dynamics of divorce to extend the basics of Fisher's thesis. The argument is presented that, although the genders have a reciprocal relationship with each other, the reciprocity is not symmetrical. The relationship is asymmetrical. In the context of the development of romantic love (limerence), the social father, & paternal certainty, plus the cultural overlay of marriage upon pair-bonding, it is suggested that, across the millennia, the range of options from which the woman would choose her sexual partners has been attenuated. However, in the latter part of the 20th century, for some communities there was a lessening of the cultural mandates for an ongoing social father & a permanent marriage commitment; ie, procuring a divorce became relatively easy & was destigmatized. The resulting divorce patterns in the these communities, it is argued, reflect a much older mating pattern wherein female choice, based upon her psycho-emotional motivations, may have been pre-potent in selecting mating partners. 7 Tables, 2 Figures, 143 References. Adapted from the source document.