Furthermore, many women are sexually attracted to promiscuous men
because, not in spite, of their promiscuity. This can be explained with reference
to the primate pack. The “alpha male” can be identifi ed by his mating with
many females. This is probably where the sluts-and-studs double standard
argument came from—not from any social approval of male promiscuity, but
from female fascination with it. Male “immorality” (in traditional language)
can be attractive to females. Thus, once polygamous mating begins, it tends
to be self-reinforcing.
Students of animal behavior have learned that the presence of a female
decoy or two near a male makes real females more likely to mate with that
particular male. Among human females also, nothing succeeds like success. I
hear anecdotes about women refusing to date thirtyish bachelors because, “if
he’s never been married, there must be something wrong with him.”
