Penny, most interested in all you say. Male violence and sexual aggression has always puzzled me. I just don't know enough about the brain and its functions to be able to explain male behaviour. As you say, comparison with animals doesn't shed much light on it. There seems to be a link between violence and sexual arousal, but where is the natural advantage in that? To maim or kill a sexual mate doesn't make sense biologically. And even in countries where women are mostly treated as equals with men, 'gang rape' happens. I feel public executions (in fact, any executions) are execrable and unacceptable in a civilised society. But that's another, old thread!