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Envisioning a not-so unlikely scenario (given all that's happening with Trump, Russia, North Korea etc...) where a biological disease wipes out a small town in somewhere like the US or UK and only 20 young white women between 15-25 are left along with 1 boy who's is aged 18, what would the gender dynamics be?
Assuming that infrastructure doesn't collapse instantaneously (food in stores remains fresh, electricity runs) and the town does not receive any more inhabitants coming to rescue or settle there, how would more than a dozen women and only a single male cope?
I know from evolutionary biology females are more important in reproduction than males (1 man can impregnate 10 women but not vice versa) and with this situation, the group could theoretically survive the apocalyptic scenario but I'm more focused on how this society would function with 'roles'. I assume that those who consider post-apocalyptic scenarios rarely focus on how massive gender differences specifically with a deficiency in males impacts on roles.
Am I wrong to believe that the females would be the 'dominant' ones in this group not just for their numbers but for their desires and ability to gather resources? People say the women would elect the male as their leader and submit to him but if he refused to 'man up' and either provide them with their sexual, romantic and intimate needs then they would coerce him with loss of basic needs and physical discipline ? Could one scrawny 5ft 5in 18yr old boy overpower 20 girls who are mostly same and and height but have athletic skills along with street smarts ?
The infastracture would collapse eventually for them to be isolated. It doesn't run itself. If it doesn't, they are likely going to be helped out by other survivors fairly quickly. It wouldn't be a genocide level loss. When the engines who run our physical infastructure stop, THEN the isolation of areas would begin. By then this town would likely have added more surviviors, including men.
Would the survivors pick one of the men as leader, or a dynamic woman? Good question, though I think the answer lies in how desperate things have become. If the absolute need for leadership is in effect, then it could be either. But the time before would be what determined it.
I think 20 years ago, the answer might be different. The population increasing *would* become important, but women today would be more likely to take on leading roles. Admission to the top would also be dependent on survival skills, as the world they knew was wiped away, and 'valuable skills' would be vastly redefined.
The 20 year old women would not be fighting over him or any other man for sex when food and safety had become the issues of life. And if the 18 year old did, unless he'd suddenly become a strong leader he'd be pushed away. Women would want a father who would stand strong and protective of the children. If he couldn't they'd look elsewhere.
The boy's position depends on the boy, (and an 18 year old isn't a 'boy' and 20 year old women are not 'girls' either, and what else he can do. If he's totally techy, and the tech world had ended, then his use is open to defination. If there is some tech around and he might be able to make it useful, working with techy bent women, then he would earn a place.
And one village with every child born from the same father is a really good way to set up disastor. Genetic diversity really matters. Other men will appear, and might be allowed inside, and their real survival as a town depends on how much diverse skills they have available. This often means that the merging of populations makes for survival and strength, where stand alones often fade away or get taken over.
But the first test would be the immediate situation. Who hides in the corner, the reality set in, and are just frozen in loss they can't get past? Who has that almost magical force called survival suddenly become a part of them (even if it never had before) and they stand up and say stop, THIS is what must be done, and NOW. And because people NEED a leader especially then, will be followed.
This could be a man or a woman. Its the perception of reality which gives them power. More likely it will be someone who has had to make real decisions sometime in their life, with costs and balances. Someone who had not had a nice easy life is more likely to be the one.
I also don't think the most pressing thing, immediately, would be making babies. It would be something to eat, a safe place to sleep, and a way to stay warm if its cold. It would not be an optimum time for being pregnant either.
When the time comes, women will choose men who are strong and have shown survival skills. Men will choose women who share this. If the 18year old has proved to be one, he will be among the chosen. If not, he will be replaced by oursiders who've joined.
When the time comes, women will choose men who are strong and have shown survival skills. Men will choose women who share this. If the 18year old has proved to be one, he will be among the chosen. If not, he will be replaced by outsiders who've joined.
Assuming that they no outsiders visit them since they live somewhere like Ireland (an Island) which cannot be accessed due to hundreds of people only alive on the entire planet who have no knowledge of controlling/maintaining aircraft or ships, will the women resort to rape?
Assuming that they no outsiders visit them since they live somewhere like Ireland (an Island) which cannot be accessed due to hundreds of people only alive on the entire planet who have no knowledge of controlling/maintaining aircraft or ships, will the women resort to rape?
If he's truly not leadership material, then they'd let him be the 'man'. But someone strong, man or woman, is a necessity. That someone might be from 'outside' in time as well. The immediate concerns won't be babies. Pregnant women are the last things they need when everything is unknown and uncertain. It might even be a rule.
My guess would be the young male will be marginalized in the same way a women would if there was only one. It would be his 'job' to service them. But my guess would be most would not get any service. If they are truely isolated, the leader will rise among the women, likely someone with more life experience beyond a life full of toys. It would not serve any of them to have multiple pregnant females.
If they have NO communication with anyone, and might come to believe there truely is nobody left, the drive to go on might also well be stunted, as it would be such a massive loss. If they end up with a set of rules which don't define them as a small community, they might end up failing to survive at all.
I also think that the drive to see how things are other places would be undenyable, and they wouldn't remain in one place, but become migratory. And there were Irish who crossed water and found new lands long before aircraft and large ships. And if there was any means of communication remaining, they might know they are not alone.
It's simply human nature to try. We find technology passed on among real ancient cultures because someone had a boat and decided to see what he could find. It would be especially powerful a lure in a self described world where they saw nobody else, and it would be done.
I would also think that because they have this disporpotional ratio, they'd not stay in one place but move out looking for other survivors, and would eventually meet the survivors of Ireland who've sailed to land.
The really telling moment would be when they met the larger group, and did they accept their dominance or would the attraction of NOT being alone be too powerful to resist?
Interesting concept, but not new. Back in 2002 there was a very underrated sci-fi comic book series called "Y the Last Man" about the seeming sole surviving male in a world that appeared to be completely dominated by women. I've read the entire series, and it's since been reprinted in a series of collections. Worth checking out if you're into post-apocalyptic comics/movies:
As the only male and only source of babies the lone male would be a very valuable asset. Likely not be allowed to put himself in harms way by hunting large animals or using dangerous tools like axes. Without him the human race ends. Yes he might declare himself ruler but rulers are ruled by their subjects as much as the other way around.
Most decisions would be made by the group as a whole but the male's preference would be stronger because he has the highest "value". The number 2 position of queen consort would be the one they fight over because their child/children would be next in line to rule. Read about harems and how many poisonings and deaths happened due to jockeying for #1 wife position.
Humans are competitive. It would not be utopia but glad it's not 10 men and one woman, that would be horrible.
I saw that. Maybe the OP is really Donald Trump's son-in-law! Why wouldn't a man just want 20 beautiful women of various backgrounds? Is he in fact saying this should be an all white world? All anything sounds like it would be a little boring.
A British TV survival show took 20 people, 10 males and 10 females and put all of them on a deserted island.
If you can remember, please let us know the name of the show and about what year it was produced in. It sounds like a more interesting concept. Wondering if the women and men were appropriately vetted. Take for example 10 women with military experience, and things may not be so bad.
N. Korea seems like a stretch. For plot, you could just watch Dr. Strangelove, the movie - the original. Especially the last half, where I recall they start discussing a variation on your opening scenario a lot - except that it's underground, more plausible as shelter. & designed & provisioned & staffed to wait out radioactive or biological Armageddon.
I saw that. Maybe the OP is really Donald Trump's son-in-law! Why wouldn't a man just want 20 beautiful women of various backgrounds? Is he in fact saying this should be an all white world? All anything sounds like it would be a little boring.
Or see Our man Flint, or In like Flint - either one. Coburn the multi-talented billionaire, secret agent & etc. also has a harem, more or less, except that they're there voluntarily. A nice couple of sendups on the 1960s, too, as I recall, & the mania for Bond movies.
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