The most “evolved” females
Among overflowing questions posted on “the flower garden of secrets,” Ewha online community, the vast majority of questions are regarding boys. Some single Ewha girls ask questions like “How do I meet decent boys?”, and others more directly, “Is JJ club, which is the most upscale club in Seoul, really the spot to meet rich boys?” 
Girls in relationships are no different from their single friends. They are often wondering if they should continue their relationships with their boyfriends who love them much but maybe “lazy,” “from a poor family,” or “not going to a renowned university.” All these questions asked under the freedom of anonymousness accompany some feeling of guiltiness on the part of every asker for being like a gold digger. But, no worry, girls! You are just evolved to be that way. Here’s what a famous evolutionary biologist, Dr. Robert Trivers said “girls are naturally choosy and discriminating when choosing a mate because they invest more energy for reproduction. Just compare the size of sperm and egg. Egg, which is about much larger than sperm, is only released once in a month, while a squirt of semen may contain tens of millions of sperms.
Then, what about us, Ewha girls? The following paragraphs reveal the result of a survey conducted with 442 Ewha students who were taking “Behavior of Animals,” based on the questionnaire developed by Dr. David M. Buss, a well-known evolutionary psychologist.
Girls Love Diamonds and Gold
A controversial but common saying, “One man’s value is equivalent to his resources,” is partly based on evolutionary psychology. Homo sapiens, unlike other species, show high level of male parental investment; Any form of parental behavior that increases an individual offspring’s fitness at a cost to the parent’s ability to invest on future offspring. In other words, females need their husbands’ persistent support for rearing their offspring, and at the same time human babies need longer parental care than those of any other species. Therefore, females have naturally evolved to be biased in favor of a male who posesses sufficient resources for their offspring.
For us, college girls, since males of our age group usually do not possess much resources, we identify men’s potential resources with his ambition and industriousness. These qualities may guarantee future financial support. Thus, boys from poor families shouldn’t be discouraged: to be fair, ambition, and hard work will win a girl’s heart!
♦To be continued in next issue
This essay is based on a survey conducted on Ewha students and some exchange students enrolled in “Behavior of Animals” course. Yoon Ji-hyun, a senior of Life science major, composed this essay while doing her assignment during the Global Online course of “Animal Behavior.” Choi Se-lim, a close friend of Jihyun, is a senior of International Studies major and she edited this essay. Yoon is going to Ewha medical school from March in 2011. Jang Yi-kweon, Professor of Life Science at Ewha, gives lectures on “Behavior of Animals,” a liberal arts course, and “Animal Behavior,” a Life Science major course.