Male Hierarchy Were men power crazy manipulators; or did they developed the dubious talent of organising, as a response to their cultural and environmental position? I was enjoying a nice chat with a lovely lady, when that old question came up about those power crazy prehistoric men, who took over the power, organised the hierarchy and subjugated the women ... (sigh) ... Then I had a brain wave ... When gathering, it is obvious what needs to be done, it is an occupation which needs little organisation, and no hierarchy in order to organise it. Thus, the women didn't develop a strong organisations hierarchy. The men, in order to hunt larger animals, needed to plan group coordination. I imagine they particularly needed to co-ordinate the timing of any attack, and thus, to have a leader who would decide when the moment was right, and to signalise this. In this way an organisations hierarchy was established and became a confirmed form. Such an organisations system naturally took over all forms of planning. This was not because men were power crazy manipulators, rather they developed the dubious talent of organising, as a response to their environmental position. The girl I was talking to suggested that the Iroqua N.American Indians were a matriarchy, and surprisingly enough were also a tribe who sustained themselves from farming and gathering, rather than hunting ... The question is, have I merely bamboozled one woman, or could this be a good line for other men to bear in mind? Robin Stuart If you enjoyed reading this then check out my main contribution to male initiation and identity in the new world on the subject of male circumcision, where I offer a third perspective on the century long pro-anti routine debate and further anthropological ideas