I do not make the argument that women are inherently more peaceable, nurturing, or altruistic than men. For one thing, this permits men the laziest of justifications for their own behavior. Yet it is undeniable that history is a record of most women acting peaceably and of most men acting belligerently - to a point where the capacity for belligerence is regarded as an essential ingredient of manhood and the proclivity for conciliation is thought largely a quality of women.