36-A Good Bitch-Slap is Genetic

A Good Bitch-Slap is Genetic

by Jaxon Cohen

Poisonous snakes do it. The reason Bighorn sheep have such big horns is because they do it too. From monkeys to birds to dung beetles, leveling (the process of stratifying members of a community into the hierarchy of privilege) is how the strong survive long enough to disseminate their traits. When snakes do it, they force their opponent's head to the ground. Why don't they just get it over with and simply bite? Evolutionarily speaking, it is genetically advantageous to the species for the individual process of leveling to be a struggle, preferably not to the death. In the long run, ubiquitous homicide is not a winning strategy. So, a couple million years ago, something interesting happened to our branch of the tree. We differentiated ourselves from apes through a process of leveling that involves a specific form of physical violence, a form that address our unique brain.

We gained the ability to form a fist, our faces rounded and flattened, our jaws shortened, our facial bones thickened, our noses turned down, our occipital structures strengthened, and finally our upper bodies weakened. Now, we can both punch and take a punch. But why? To show dominance. Tactically speaking, a punch to the face is rarely effective at countering a brutal onslaught, except in the movies.

This fundamental urge flows through time while we progress – society creates alternatives. One can climb the social ladder while sending a rival down a rung without being a caveman. In the Victorian era, one slapped the face to instigate a dual. The first form of organized boxing was two men, sitting in facing-chairs, taking turns punching each other in the face until one forfeited, passed out, or died. The 80's were full of break-dancing and bullets. Today, we start by tweeting about who deserves a good bitch-slap.

Why the face? It all has to do with Prometheus. The discovery of fire allowed us to cook our food. Cooked food vastly increases the number of available calories. We consume less bulk. Less intake means less gathering and chewing, leaving more time for thinking and socializing. Our brains grew as our bodies weakened. Larger brains made it possible to resolve our environment into a more meaningful narrative.

And what is the most important element in our environment? Other humans. For example, the occipital-lobe sits at the rear of the skull and requires a large percentage of cranial space with a significant chunk devoted to one job: facial recognition. The advantage of a group lies in the ability for the members to act as one, to communicate as one. We must not only recognize others but know our relationship to their disposition, place, and current function within the group.

One could argue only insects like ants and bees are more social than us. An effective way of leveling that preserves group cohesion can be a bloodied lip and a black eye, both painful reminders to the subordinate of their station and a visual cue to the group. With so much of our brain devoted to the face, the social, psychological, and physical lesson is profound while the actual damage is relatively minor.

Why do we shuffle the social deck in this manner? The face is the great symbol of the ego. To mark it is to shame it. A pimple on the forearm is nothing. On the face, that same pimple devastates any young person desperate for acceptance. Will we continue to 'save face' by evolving away from physical violence and instead towards 'using our words?' Or will we devolve and exchange our fists for worse things like the technology of chemistry?

The ugliest extent of this instinct is when the attempted redemption of a crushed ego involves a powerful PH. Women in patriarchal societies most often suffer the physical and social costs of disfigurement when acid is thrown in their faces. Why would anyone do this? Where it is most common, the risk is minimal (criminal charges rarely follow) while local culture often maximizes the payoff (blame often falls squarely on the victim who is literally scarred for life). Until this changes, the acts of these cowards are a collective punch to the face of humanity.

In my short story Aftermath (available at Amazon.com), I discuss an idea that balances the scales of this and every injustice, the implications of which changed my life. Now, I see punching anyone in the face as lose-lose because the ultimate way of leveling is based on the value of one's contribution to the community.

Unless otherwise stated, all photographs on this site are the copyright of Jaxon Cohen.