    13

    13

    13

    Women encourage killers. They do it by falling in love with

    warriors and heroes.  Men know it, and respond with overwhelming

    enthusiasm.  The Crusaders marched off to war with a lady's favor in

    their helmets.  They were not setting out on some mission of gallant

    gentleness.  On their way through Asia Minor, the Crusaders literally

    roasted Christian babies in cases of mistaken identity.  Because the

    local folk did not speak a language they understood, the chivalrous

    knights assumed the panicky babblers were heathens.  Heathens, of

    course, deserved no mercy.  So the heroes sliced up the adults and

    baked the infants on spits, all the while thinking of how the girls back

    home would admire their bravery.28

    Technically, it's called sexual selection.  The females of a species

    develop a craving for a certain kind of guy, and all the males compete

    to live up to the female ideal.  Lady peacocks adore hunks with

    towering blue tails.  So peacock gentlemen sport foppish plumes.29

    Lady bower birds swoon over bachelors with an architectural flare.  So

    bower bird males turn sticks and scraps into a Taj Mahal.  And what

    have human females gone for in nearly every society and time?

    "Courage" and "bravery."  In short, violence.

    The poetry of the classic sixth century Arab master Labid is a

    testament to the feminine ability to bring out the animal in a man. In

    Labid's lyrical verses, a young fellow jostles along on his camel,

    dreaming of how he can get his beloved's attention.  She, it seems, does

    not recognize his true worth.  He dreams of how he will prove himself

    to her. And how will he demonstrate his manliness?  With feats of

    daring glory.

    Now what is the one feat of daring glory guaranteed to rivet the

    admiration of a beauty in Labid's tribal desert society?  You rush into

    the nearest village, kill a few of the males and steal as many camels and

    old clothes as you can get your hands on.  Greatness belongs to the

    killer.  And the young ladies swoon over guys who are great.  Labid

    will tell you, it works every time.30

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