if there are 20 men in a boat lost at sea and some think they should go one way and some think they should go another, they can fight about it or vote on it. since the same side that would win a vote would probably also win a fight, it's best to have a vote. but if you have 10 men and 10 women in the same boat, and 10 of the women and 1 of the men think one way, and 9 of the men think the other way and they vote on it, the 9 men wouldn't accept the vote. they would just overpower the 10 women and 1 man, tie them up, and go the way they want. the same is true more generally in a nation when the electorate becomes too split by sex. if the men lose a vote, they just overrule it and fight it out.
United States