The Nature of Being Marked

In today's society the traditional gender differences are very apparent; females, in contrast to males, have the world to choose from in terms of material for their exterior appearance. Deborah Tannen presents an argument of each gender being "marked" or "unmarked" in society, and unsurprisingly she defines human females as "marked."

A biological perspective of being "marked" was offered which contrasted what is generally seen in society. "biologically it is the male that is marked. While two X chromosomes make a female, two Y chromosomes make nothing." This is also seen in animals. The male animal is known for being the one with all of the feathers,  flamboyant colors, and possessing the ability to perform "dances." The females on the other hand are very neutral. They blend in with their surroundings: branches, grass, leaves, and twigs.

The term for gender differences in nature that are beyond differences in reproductive parts is sexual dimorphism. Basically in nature, just like humans, males have a bunch of sperm and females have limited eggs. As a result, female animals have to be more choosy when it comes to finding a mate as they have to get the most beneficial match. Considering that theconversation.com states, "it’s usually the males who compete over females via an evolutionary process termed sexual selection. For this, individuals produce traits such as ornate plumage that have no survival benefit. They have evolved purely to increase mating success," I think that since as humans we've moved way beyond trying to reproduce as much as we can, the females don't have something big on the line, so it's not just them who have to be choosy. Also, I think because female birds especially have to protect their babies and eggs, they want to attract less attention to themselves.

The male peacock has the elaborate feathers and the peafowl is just a Plain Jane.

The male is the weird black thing with the blue stripe and the female is the brown bird in the front. This is a bird of paradise.

Even in nature the female is unmarked, parallel to biological explanation given by Tannen.

Why is it that society marks the females?