One Vote for the Male Mind

Every American school kid has learned the sory of the Pilgrims, the stern settlers who left a land of oppression for a new world, shielded only by faith and a fragile ship. Their quest for religous freedom and cultural tolerance are ideals Americans have claimed as their birthright ever since.

Correction, insists Martin Green, professor of English at Tufts University. The Pilgrims may not have actually set sail with such lofty goals.

Most of the great accomplishments of Western society, Green suggests, have been motivated by the pursuit of adventure. Man he says--meaning males--has always had a need to engage in primal activities, such as hunting and warfare. It's innate. Exploration and discovery are just more organized and socially acceptable forms. Green claims in The Adventurous Male: Chapters in the History of the White Male Mind (Penn State), that the lust for adventure propelled the great migrations of the 18th and 19th centuries. Why else would 11 million people leave the British Isles in such awful ships?

Think of it: the Pilgrims as superheroes--a theme for Steven Speilberg's next summer blockbuster. But Green doesn't just want to rewrite history. His understanding of the American psyche impels him to offer advice to aspiring leaders: "Politicians can add to their attractiveness by having a good war record or some other insignia of adventure." Maybe Bill Clinton could bolster his popularity by taking up space-walking.

PHOTO: The race to the moon may have been motivated partly by men's innate urge to hunt.