Women's investment in daughters (was re: more on marriage)

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From: Bender the Robot <bendertherobot_at_earthlink.net>
Date: Tue, 12 Sep 2000 21:06:05 -0400

Thomas McVey:
>>>If women always marry outside the clan, wouldn't there then be
>>>a disincentive for the clan to put a bunch of resources into
>>>educating them or training them?

Matt:
>>Only if the men control the educational and training resources, and
>>not necessarily even then.

Phil:
>Why would the women be less pragmatic about the welfare of the clan than
the
>men? We don't have a monopoly on ruthlessness, you know.

Good point, but women will want to see their daughters succeed in whatever clan they marry into. That means preparing them as well as possible. If women have the means to do so, they will put part of their resources into their offspring's preparation, and the clan can go hang.

It's a similar situation to the good ol' Trobriand Islanders (wasn't it? or was it Sumatra?) where property nominally descends from a deceased man to his sister's sons. Fathers want to see their sons succeed, so they transfer much of it to their own sons during their lifetime.

--Matt