Why sex differences in life expectancy persist?

In most of the world women outlive men. In most countries, men have a life expectancy about seven years shorter than women's, and higher mortality rates for all 15 leading causes of death. Mortality data from 1995 for Ontario Province, Canada, show that between birth and age 45, there are 1,812 male deaths, of which 1,372 (76%) are due to motor vehicle accidents, suicide, and AIDS, leaving 440 deaths unrelated to behavior. Although the male's excess of deaths from car accidents may, in part be attributable to greater distances driven and not behavior while driving, the male's relationship with the automobile is almost certainly another aspect of gender roles. Only 308 (33%) of the 936 female's deaths are explained by such behavior. When non-risk taking causes of death are isolated from the data, women under age 45 have a mortality which is 1.43 times that of men's. Over age 45 the leading causes of death for both men and women are chronic diseases. Men die of heart disease in equal numbers but at a younger age than do women. With increasing age the number of deaths for women creeps upward to equal that of men. Male gender roles as manifest by risky behavior around drinking, driving, and sex, account for virtually all excess male mortality below age 45, and approximately 50% of the excess below age 60. This data suggests that gender difference in behavior is a central cause of the shorter life expectancy of men in most societies. As in most animal groups, this gendered behavior actually arises from a male biological imperative to dominate other males and thereby win a mate to procreate. This primitive desire to have control over women is what drives men to collect women like they would acquire property. On the other hand, women are picky and they will stray with someone they interact with on a daily basis or someone they respect like their bosses, pastors or husbands' best friends.