Samarra, and whomever wrote the "magnets" analogy. Loved the anaolgy, great stuff, very accurate in a metaphoric kind of way. Samarra.. two books..(well, three, actually) The territorial imperative, robt. Ardrey, On Agression, Karl what's his name, and Beyond Freedom and Dignity, Skinner, (yeah , that skinner, man got a bad rap, real bad)
In my opinion... as follows... Men are posessive of territory, ie: land, women, machines, power and the machinery of power. it's a biological imperative, just as men are confrontational and physically competitive. Ai'nt a a hell of a lot more complex than you'd see on those T.V.animal shows.... Women, however, are competitive for the males that posess the means to their end, the maximal sucesss of their get ( progeny) I think women are less hierarchical than men, and therefore necessarily more competitive. ( Just my opinion, and what the hell do I know, I'll dig road- rock for money, or to get the job done.) Men can and often do, punch each other out, and then go have some beers, no hard feelings. I've done it myself.
That may have seemed a ramble, and so it was but in summation, here's what I think. A) platonic friendship between man and woman is possible (I've experienced it) but very, very rare and circumscribed by careful rules. ( Elsewise there'd be total war every day, all the time. consider very primitive societies, like the Yanamamao.) B) society as we have it, is not an accident, but a careful evolution. Many years older than we care to admit. C) The man is never far from the the animal, we forget that to our peril.
J.O.M.
