Day 4 of documenting my findings on the internet
Are women actually submissive by default?
It’s a fascinating time to dive into this topic because the "traditional" narrative that women are biologically hardwired for submissiveness is being dismantled by both modern science and a more critical look at history.
The prevailing take among experts today is that behavior is more of a mirror of our environment than a map of our DNA.
1. The Science: Biological Myths Debunked
For a long time, testosterone was framed as the "aggression hormone" and estrogen as the "nurturing hormone." Modern research says it's much more complex.
"Testosterone Rex" by Cordelia Fine: This is a must-read. Fine won the Royal Society Science Book Prize for proving that there are no "male" or "female" brains. She argues that the idea of a biologically determined submissive female is "scientific sexism" disguised as data.
"Bitch: On the Female of the Species" by Lucy Cooke: Cooke, a zoologist, looks at the animal kingdom to show that female animals (from meerkats to albatrosses) are often the dominant, aggressive, and "promiscuous" leaders of their groups. It completely upends the idea that "nature" intended females to be passive.
2. The History: Reclaiming the Narrative
If women aren't naturally submissive, why did it look that way for so long? These authors argue that it was a survival strategy under patriarchy, not an innate trait.
"The Create of Patriarchy" by Gerda Lerner: Lerner argues that male dominance is a historical development (only about 5,000 years old), not a biological constant. She shows how laws and social structures were built specifically to enforce submission because it didn't come naturally.
"The Second Sex" by Simone de Beauvoir: The classic take. Her famous line, "One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman," hits the nail on the head. She argues that "femininity" (including submissiveness) is a social construct imposed on women by a society that needs them to play a certain role.
3. The Psychological Take: The "Adaptation" Argument
Modern psychologists often view submissiveness not as a personality trait, but as a response to power dynamics.
When one group holds all the economic and physical power, the marginalized group adopts "submissive" traits (compliance, peacekeeping, hyper-vigilance to others' needs) to avoid conflict and survive.
Women Who Run with the Wolves – Clarissa Pinkola Estés
Estés argues that women have a “Wild Woman” archetype: instinctual, intuitive, creative, fierce, sexually alive, boundary-setting.
She focused on the ideas such as:
Women are not inherently passive.
Civilization tames and domesticates female instinct.
Suppression of that instinct leads to depression, self-abandonment, people-pleasing.
She doesn’t frame women as submissive creatures but as powerful beings who were culturally trained to shrink.
Healthy femininity includes leaving when disrespected.
Healthy femininity includes rage.
Healthy femininity includes sexuality on her terms.
Women who lose their instinct become compliant but miserable. That’s not submission. That’s suppression.