The widespread but mistaken notion that sex is the primary male drive and that males compete among themselves primarily for the possession of the female arises from the fact that the sexual pairing of the female with the male occurs immediately after the fight with the competing male is over. We have seen, however, that the observation that the males of a specie will usually quarrel among themselves with undiminished zest, even in the absence of females, suggests that male competitiveness transcends the goals of mere possession of the female. Human males compete among themselves with as much verve and absorption in the presence of females as in their absence. Males of migratory bird species will fight in the absence of females who arrive only after quarrels have been settled and each male individual assigned his status in the pecking order.

The ethological evidence is that males quarrel among themselves primarily for status: power, influence, estate; with the females being only adorning part of the "fixtures and furniture" of the male's estate possession. This fact underscores the observation that in male dominated cultures women are treated as chattel; and any man who by any means comes to possession of his neighbor's estate assumes possession of his women as a matter of legal right.