What Kind of Woman are You? Fast or Coy?

What kind of woman are you?

According to eminent biologist Richard Dawkins, in his incredible book, The Selfish Gene, there are two types of sexual strategies in the mammalian world for females and two sexual strategies in the mammalian world for males.

Now I'm simplifying here but basically, females of all mammalian species are either, fast or coy, while males are either, faithful or promiscuous. We could use numerous less stereotypical terms but these are the terms Dawkins uses to describe the various strategies.

Fast females are those who are not interested in male parental investment. In other words, they mate with whomever is available.

Coy females are those who require some sense of care or investment by the male prior to mating.

Faithful males are those males who show some sort of investment in the mother and future offspring (for example a male bird who will help build a nest).

Promiscuous males are those males who will not invest in offspring but want to mate with any available female.

For our purposes, we will use the faithful male as the great male that will make for a good long term future partner and father.

The question arises, what sort of female does a faithful male want?

Or, if you want a faithful male, what sort of female must you be?

In the mammalian world, faithful males look for and mate a coy female. The reasons are obvious. He is not interested in mating with a female who is going to be off to the next male. He will invest in the female only with the idea that the female is going to stick around.

The promiscuous male however is looking for a fast female. He is not interested in parenting or sticking around but wants to mate and move on to the next available female.

Put another way, fast females attract promiscuous males, coy females attract faithful males.*

As I stated, this is simplifying but generally, as Dawkins clearly shows, mammalian species have developed these very specific strategies to have their genes passed on into future generations.


Moving into the human world, we see these strategies as well. We all know those who have chosen these various strategies in dating or mating.

And so I ask, what sort of female are you? What sort of male are you attracting?

Are you the type of female who does not require investment? Who is willing or wanting to mate with any male?



Or are you the type of female who is more selective and will only be sexually intimate with a male who will invest in the relationship?

Take a minute and reflect on your behavior. Notice your instincts, your behavior, and your tendencies.

Then be aware of how your behavior is in tune, or out of sync with the type of male you attract! Might you be sending the wrong message? Does your behavior match your desires?

Do you want a faithful or promiscuous man?

Are you fast or coy?

Please note, Dawkins is not discussing game playing, he is discussing instincts and evolutionary stable strategies in the animal world. Game playing, or "tricking" a mate is also a strategy developed by some species which I do not recommend in the world of human relationships.