The idea of predator and prey may be born of the patriarchy, but as a previous commenter suggested, this is often how it works in the animal kingdom. That is a largely academic point however, because as higher order mammals we are capable of breaking our core biological programming to some degree.

Perhaps your nephew is right. But what do you then do with those men who are never selected? The ones who have been brought up from childhood being told that masculine success is dependent on being selected and having someone fall in love with you. At the moment the answer is nothing, so they either attempt to assert power, manipulate power or remain powerless. Powerless men are easily exploited in onlne forums and their powerlessness becomes the fuel for the rage.

And if your nephew is right (and he may be) then why is this a problem for men? It seems unfair in an equal society that women can make subtle signals of their intention (with no risk of public shame if these signals aren’t picked up on) and men must cross the dance floor and put themselves into a socially embarrassing situation. What’s to stop women proactively and confidently asserting that they are sexually attracted to a relative stranger?

The issue is highlighted clearly by your last paragraph. We must demand that men develop interpersonal skills. No. If the drive is one of equality we must teach BOTH sexes the complexities of this interpersonal dance— and that will include for many women, an insight into why the suicide rate is so high in young men.

Feminism has become increasingly a list of demands of men to change their behaviours, many of those changes are warranted and called for , that isn’t questionable — but as with this original article, those arguments in solitude only really tell half the story and won’t solve the problem entirely.