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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.

A sine qua non of a, or any, culture's continuity across generations is the existence of citizens within that culture. With a systematic replenishment of very mortal citizens, the culture can enjoy extended longevity or perpetuity. Without citizens, a culture becomes, at best, an historical footnote. With the advent of inexpensive, effective reproductive technology, a paradox has been created in the 21st century. To wit: when effective reproductive technology is incorporated by a culture which stresses gender egalitarianism, the culture's reproductive strategy tends to fall below replacement value. If the strategy is maintained over generations, then that culture melts away or evaporates and would be supplanted by or replaced by a culture with an alternative social formula. Cross-cultural/cross-national data are presented which supports the existence and potency of this dynamic.$$cultural evolution, gender roles, education, birth rates, natural increase

Over the last half century, advancements in agriculture, medicine, & technology have been impressive. However, large segments of the world's population are underfed, sick, &/or pre-industrialized. The question is addressed: "Why does it take so long for the benefits of civilization to spread to everyone?" Using data from the UN (N = 165 countries), it is argued that cultural expectations that enhance fertility are aligned with cultural expectations that, in turn, do not emphasize tertiary education, especially for women. Accordingly, those areas of the world's population that do generate advances in agriculture, medicine, & technology represent a proportionately smaller segment of the world's population every generation. Thus, to remain "even" or to maintain their proportion of the world's citizenry, sizable numbers of individuals from higher fertility/lower technology areas must be systematically recruited every generation -- into a set of attitudes or cultural expectations that are not aspects of their early socialization experiences. The slower the recruitment is, the longer it will take for any putative advance to diffuse. It is further argued that the training & self-interests of behavioral scientists make such societal dynamics likely to be systematically underreported in academia, &, by extension, to the communities at large. 5 Tables, 23 References. Adapted from the source document.