Between woman preferring pink and their being better shoppers, “the connecting theme”

is that in the division of labour that forms the primordial bargain of human hunter-gatherer societies, it is the men who do the hunting and the women who do the gathering

says The Economist in a foray into evolutionary psychology provocatively titled “Sex, shopping and thinking pink.”

Furthermore, “There is a fair amount of evidence that men are better than women at solving certain sorts of spatial problems, such as remembering the locations of topographical landmarks,” says Dr. New of Yale (no Dr. No, he).  Can’t agree more: when I think map coordinates, the lady of our house goes by mostly unerring instinct while picking our way on country roads and city streets.

Dr. No, I mean New, studied performance at a farmer’s market, the nearest thing we have these days to gathering.  He found women remembered better where the most nutritious food was found, in which stall.

Two other doctors, Hurlbert and Ling, of Newcastle U., found “a biological, rather than a cultural, explanation for colour preference,” in this case going for the red stuff, which is more nutritious.

Their ancestors in cave women days got it into their system that red (and pink) is where the vitamins are, and the rest is pre-history.