AS A RESULT of biological, technological and economic influences, a great socio-psychological gender-shift is taking place in our society. Sex is emerging as the dominant factor and the female of the species is gradually emerging as the winner in this evolutionary sweepstakes.

The evolution, as propounded by Charles Darwin, has not stopped with the evolution of some apes into Homo sapiens (human beings). Though man’s mastery of science and his tampering with the natural process seemed to put an end to the evolutionary process, evolution is still taking place in subtle ways. And the animal that is coming out on top of this evolutionary sweepstakes is the female of the Homo sapiens, i.e. the woman.

Since evolution, the female of all species, except human beings, has always remained deadlier than its male counterpart. These females are independent, strong and lead life on their own terms. They can perform all the chores – be it hunting for food or taking care of themselves or their young ones; they are not dependent on the males. In fact, the female of these species does not need the male for anything except mating during the rutting season.

Some of these females are, in fact, literally ‘deadly’. If the male praying mantis fails to promptly quit after mating, the female would eat him up. It is the same with scorpions too.

However, unlike the female of other species, the female of the Homo sapiens did not evolve into a deadly or for that matter, even an independent creature; or more precisely, it was not allowed to evolve so by its male counterpart. Men have always used religion and customs, directly and indirectly, to arrest the evolution of women so the women will remain subservient to them.

But you cannot stop something that is as natural as evolution from evolving. The evolutionary process has also been assuming other subtle forms; as a result, the female of the human beings is slowly and steadily evolving into independent beings capable of fending for themselves.

Aggression and ambition are the traits that are essential to survive and come out on top in the evolutionary game. Belligerence and a desire to reign at the top catapults one to the top of the heap. And, women, through natural selection and progressive adaptation (i.e. acquiring education, securing a job leading to financial independence), have become aggressive and ambitious. Even as women are on the ascent, men have started relinquishing their dominant role and are being relegated to a secondary status. In other words, men are becoming soft, tender, emotional and self-conscious – traits that were once considered feminine. While women are becoming aggressive, career-oriented and independent, men are evolving into “metrosexuals”. The trend is subtle and yet noticeable all over the world. As with every evolutionary change, this change is also gradual and unhurried.

This has unnerved the patriarchal religions and societies which have fallen upon the time-tested method of misusing and abusing religion to suppress women; the female’s need for the male of the species is increasingly becoming just biological or sexual as is the case with other species. To a modern woman, man is nothing but a provider of sex and sperm.

Worse still, a woman can opt to fertilize herself without having a man around. She can choose just the sperm and reject its owner. Sperm banks have made it easier for women even to select the physical and mental attributes of their babies. As cloning technology makes further progress, women may not even need sperm (or man) for reproduction.

These changes are already perceptible and it is only a matter of time before women emerge as the dominant species on the evolutionary scale. The age ahead is, no doubt, the Age of Women.