Female
Great Apes Tamed Male Primates Millions of Years Ago
[Excerpt from Cyborgs Versus the Earth
Goddess: Men’s Domestication of Women and Animals and Female
Resistance (forthcoming, 2017) by Moses Seenarine, Ed.D]
The Great Apes
The subduing of mammalian
males by females is an extensive and ongoing process in numerous
species across the Globe. The first domestication realized among the
great apes family in the primate order was the taming of
sperm-producers by egg-producers. Even though balance between the
sexes fluctuates, females wield great power in sex-selection.
Female reproductive
achievement is limited by resource availability and acquisition. In
contrast, male reproductive success is limited by access to mates and
the number of fertilizations, and may therefore be more variable.
Phallic apes have to obtain young-bearers' approval, who may have a
preference for younger mates. So power relations among social
primates are situational and constantly changing.
Primates are
characterized by refined development of the hands and feet, a
shortened snout, an ample brain, as well as an increased reliance on
stereoscopic vision at the expense of smell, the dominant sensory
system in most mammals.
Many primates have specializations that enable them to exploit
particular foods, such as fruit, leaves, gum or insects.
The great apes or
Hominidae are sizable, tailless primates, with the smallest living
species being the bonobo at 60 to 90 pounds (30 to 40 kg) in weight,
and the largest being the eastern gorillas, with males weighing 300
to 400 pounds (140 to 180 kg). The Hominidae family include seven
species in four genera. One genus is Pongo consisting of the Bornean
and Sumatran orangutan. Another is Gorilla, with the eastern and
western gorilla.
A third genus is Pan
comprising of the common chimpanzee and the bonobo. And finally,
there is Homo, with human and near-human ancestors and relatives,
like the Neanderthals. Fruit is the preferred food among all with the
exception of human groups. Human teeth and jaws are markedly smaller
for their size than those of other apes, which may be an adaptation
to eating cooked food.
(Image:
Orangutan-human comparison)
Similar to the male bias
held by mainstream anthropologists, primate researchers are
male-centric, and their work has focused on the role of phallic
individuals vying for leadership of groups. Often viewed as more
passive, egg-producing apes' manipulation of sex selection and other
aspects of power are frequently understated and misinterpreted in
primate studies.
The great apes have
varying degrees of female-centered involvement in their cultures,
from solitary orangutan mothers who avoid contact with males to
female-led bonobo clans of over 100 individuals. Resident orangutan
females live in defined home ranges that overlap with those of other
adult egg-producers, who may be their immediate relatives. Females
tend to settle in home ranges that overlap with their mothers,
and so live mostly within a gynocentric grouping.
The notion of
phallic-dominated gorillas with a lone silverback defending a group
of egg-producers is problematic since this leads to increased sexual
insecurity for sperm-producers. There are several advantages for
silverbacks to follow the wishes of female gorillas, for example,
food and reproductive security.
(Image:
Bonobos are very social apes - W H Calvin)
Pan: Bonobo
The
most successful first-domestication among the great apes was
that of bobono sperm-producers by egg-producers. This taming can
probably be traced to the split between the two Pans, around one
million BP. In contrast to chimpanzees, bonobos are relatively
egalitarian and nonviolent. They are not phallic-dominated but
instead display a mix of gynocentrism and sexually receptive
behavior.
Sharing 98.5 percent of
the same DNA as humans, it is not surprising that bonobos possess
very human-like qualities. They embody a profound intelligence and
emotional capacity. Bonobos have picked up on many facets of human
culture through simple observation, and have learned how to
communicate in human languages, use tools, and play music.
Egg-producing bonobos
frequently form coalitions even though they are generally with
non-relatives. All-female coalitions of two or more individuals form
spontaneously to attack males, usually after sperm-producers behaved
aggressively towards one or more bonobo female.
Bonding enables bonobo
females to dominate most of the males. Although male bonobos are
individually stronger, they cannot stand alone against a united group
of egg-producers. One researcher concludes, “coalitions in female
bonobos might have evolved as a counter strategy against male
harassment.”
Interestingly, bonobos
have highly individualized facial features, as humans do. So like us,
one individual may look significantly different from another bonobo.
This adaption facilitated visual facial recognition in social
interaction.
Bonobos can live in
close-knit social groups of a hundred individuals or more. During the
day, the group break into smaller groups to forage in different
areas, but the whole clan sleeps together at night. The ancestors of
humans might have adopted the same foraging and sleeping behavior.
And they may have occupied temporary retreats, or settlements, for
extensive periods of time. So human settlements, or what is commonly
considered as 'domestication,' is much older than 12,000 years.
Between bonobo groups,
social mingling may occur, in which members of different communities
have sex and groom each other. This behavior is unheard of among
common chimpanzees. While social hierarchies do exist, rank plays a
less prominent role than in other primate societies. Primatologist
Frans de Waal thinks that bonobos are capable of altruism,
compassion, empathy, kindness, patience, and sensitivity. He
describes "bonobo society" as a "gynecocracy."
Females have a higher
social status in bonobo society than the other great apes. Aggressive
encounters between females and male bonobos are rare, and
sperm-producers are tolerant of infants and juveniles. Bonobos carry
and nurse their young for four years and give birth every 4.6 years.
Akin to the other great apes, bonobo mothers assume the entirety of
parental care.
(Image: A
bonobo mother and infant at Lola Ya Bonobo sanctuary in Kinshasa,
DRC. - Christina Bergey)
A male bonobo derives
status from the social position of his mother, similar to
chimpanzees, and hanging out with mom can boost a sperm-producer's
chances of getting intimate with a fertile female.
The mother–son bond often stays strong and continues throughout
life.
Compared to chimps,
bonobos show more sexual behavior in a greater variety of
relationships. Bonobos frequently have sex, sometimes to help prevent
and resolve conflicts. Bonobos are the only non-human animal to have
been observed engaging in tongue kissing, and oral sex. Bonobos and
humans are the only primates that engage in face-to-face genital
sex.
Bonobos do not form
permanent monogamous sexual relationships with individual partners.
They also do not discriminate in their sexual behavior by sex or age
either. When bonobos come upon a new food source or feeding ground,
the increased excitement will usually lead to communal sexual
activity, presumably decreasing tension and encouraging peaceful
feeding.
Female bonobos engage in
mutual genital behavior, possibly to bond socially and form a female
nucleus of bonobo society. Egg-producers rub their clitorises
together rapidly for ten to twenty seconds, and this behavior, "which
may be repeated in rapid succession, is usually accompanied by
grinding, shrieking, and clitoral engorgement."
Adolescent females often leave their native community to join another
group. Sexual bonding with other egg-producers establishes these new
females as members of the group.
Bonobos' diet is for the
most part vegetarian and sustainable. Foraging in small groups,
bonobos feast primarily on fruit, but they also eat leaves, flowers,
bark, stems, roots, insect larvae, worms, crustaceans, honey, eggs,
and soil. The female-centered nature of bonobo and other primate
societies show that male domination among humans is an anomaly among
primates, and that it can be changed.
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