In my column at Taki's Magazine this week I discuss one of the oldest stories in history—possibly even in biology: "Women Spoiling Men's Fun."

It's a world-wide phenomenon:

The war between the sexes is fought on many fronts, some of them very far away.

There’s a report from one of those fronts in the January 2013 issue of The China Journal. The writer is Katherine A. Mason, billed as "Lecturer in Health and Societies in the Department of History and Sociology of Science at the University of Pennsylvania."

Her topic is banqueting, more specifically toasting — a key feature of Chinese social life. In a low-trust society such as China’s, "social life" includes all work relationships. Bonds within and between "work units" are formed and maintained by getting drunk at banquets. Only thus, it is believed, can one establish true sincerity — a central concept in Chinese life since the Age of Philosophers.

Read the whole thing at Taki's Magazine.