The primordial paternal urge

 

Flatworms are hermaphrodite—one individual having functional reproductive organs of both sexes. Each flatworm guy (or call it a girl) has egg-producing ovaries and sperm-producing testes.

As a result of this unique biology, they engage in a fascinating competitive process of mating. It’s a ‘penis-fencing’ duel. The rivals try to stab each other with their two-pronged penis to inseminate the opponent. The winner carries the tag of being the father. He lacerates the loser’s skin with his lust-lance and injects his sperms. The loser becomes the mother carrying the burden of fertilized eggs.

They fight to be father because pregnancy and being a mother costs much at the level of investment of life energy. Being a father is an act. Being a mother is a tough process. As a mother, you launch the next generation by burning your own life fuel.

In nature there is this fatherly greed and lust to pass on the genes at the minimum energetic costs of reproduction, while being a mother involves huge amount of energetic contribution including pregnancy and post-birth rearing of the newborn.

The willing-to-be-father lancers raise their bodies to flaunt their two-pronged penises. The combatants give their best to stab the opponent. The successful stabber injects sperms into the rival’s circulatory system.   

Sometimes, both combatants end up lancing each other and carry the proud tag of being mother and father at the same time.

Basically, at this level of life’s manifestation, it’s about being stronger or weaker. Today’s strong guy is tomorrow’s weakling in the face of a smarter, stronger opponent. So being father and mother occurs in succession, or simultaneously in too closely contested matches.

The penis-fencing duels may last an hour sometimes. So this is no lovemaking, it’s plain war. Sometimes the smaller guys turn out to be more agile and get a better chance to lance the big, burly rival. Small guys also can win, as they say.