While taking the biological anthropology course at the University of Arkansas, I have learned the extent of primate patterns and behaviors, most importantly, in relation to human behavior and social interaction. There is one primate that single-handedly relates to humans in terms of human characteristics such as sexual behavior, how they handle aggression, their psychological demeanor, movement, and socialization. The pygmy chimpanzee, also known as the bonobo, is this particular primate. The bonobo is known for their ability to resolve problems with in their life through sexual intercourse. I chose this topic because I find this fascinating, seeing as how I have already written a research paper on human development and sexual interaction between different human cultures. This paper investigates bonobos as incredible creatures in comparison to human beings in every aspect socially with conflict resolution and psychologically with how they mentally observe their surroundings with a lot of consideration of their environment. The bonobo, Pan paniscus, typically associate better with the opposite sex. I have found in my research, while reading “Cooperation in Primates and Humans”, that the males often form closer bonds with females (Kappeler 34). This could be because of the sexual aspect of it, or because females are dominate in this species. The maternal groups are primarily ran by the females when given the opportunity for food or order to the rest of the group. In human history, patriarchal societies were formed by nature and have evolved giving females more rights and opportunities now that modernization has taken place. That being said, humans and bonobos do differ this way.
Sexual behavior
Among Bonobos, sex is a maj...
... middle of paper ...
...omeone is sick and is in need of companionship, or nursing back to health help from one another. This is the closest thing that the humans have in comparison to the bonobos characteristic of grooming. Bonobos and humans have in common that mothers avoid being involved in any type of violence because they have children that are dependent on them. My research included Russell Ciochen and Richard Nisbett in “The Primate Anthology,” and in their notes, these mammals exhibit these behaviors over a period of time. They are a reliable source seeing as how they studied the bonobos for years at a time in the same environment. All in all the bonobos are incredible creatures in comparison to human beings in every aspect socially with conflict resolution and psychologically with how they mentally observe their surroundings with a lot of consideration of their environment.
Chapter one of “The Bonobo And The Atheist” was rather interesting. De Waal focusing primarily on chimps studied morality. Now what is morality? Morality in short is having an understanding of right and wrong. Human beings have an understanding of right and wrong due to our beliefs and our teachings growing up. De Waal explains animals and humans do not share these common beliefs and he focuses his area of study on perhaps why they show signs of morality much like humans do. Humans are usually shaped around their specific religion, they have an understanding of god and the commandments so on and so forth. This is the case for me because I grew up in a very traditional roman catholic family. From a very young age I was forced to go to church
...ape is mostly aimed towards women, it is known that bandits have also had men as victims. “Immigrants tell of nine gangsters who hurled a man off their train, then forced two boys to have sex together or be thrown off too.” (Nazario). While the wrongdoers in this situation are bandits, it is still a part that should be focused on because it demonstrates that women are not the only rape victims.
The book shows that these two African apes have been testified to differ intensely in patterns of sexuality, supremacy, same sex social connections, and the occurrence and power of both intragroup and intergroup hostility. Chimpanzees have been desi...
Primates housed in organizations like zoos and laboratories have developed catastrophic behavior; due to the lack of their natural habitat and the lose of freedom to pursue their own lives. Chimpanzees have directed themself to attempt abnormal and often revolting behavior. During their life in captivity they exibit biting themselves, drinking urine, eating feces, pating genitals, rocking, plucking hair, and fumpling niples (Birkett and Newton-Fisher). Another factor that gives chimpanzees
There has been an age long debate to whether or not primates have culture. This is based on the idea that primates may have certain behaviors that our taught rather than already being programmed in their minds biologically. Some would argue that a certain action that a primate does wouldn’t necessarily be something that primate was born knowing; but others would argue that it was something that was something they knew in their subconscious mind. Notable arguments that would be in favor of culture in primates would include their use of tools, how a primate eats, and how they interact; arguments against the theory of culture in primates would proclaim that a primate’s habits are determined biologically and not affected by outside sources.
...possibly is that female Neandertals chose human male mates due to the higher availability of food. These behaviors are also seen in modern primate species, whose behaviors are observed and can give an insight into past human behavior, which could be used as evidence to support the theory that competition between humans and Neandertals led to Neandertal extinction.
...socially directed hormonal instructions which specify that females will want to have children and will therefore find themselves relatively helpless and dependent on males for support and protection. The schema claims that males are innately aggressive and competitive and therefore will dominate over females. The social hegemony of this ideology ensures that we are all raised to practice gender roles which will confirm this vision of the nature of the sexes. Fortunately, our training to gender roles is neither complete nor uniform. As a result, it is possible to point to multitudinous exceptions to, and variations on, these themes. Biological evidence is equivocal about the source of gender roles; psychological androgyny is a widely accepted concept. It seems most likely that gender roles are the result of systematic power imbalances based on gender discrimination.9
5. Kellert, S.R. and E.O. Wilson, editors. 1993 The Biophilia Hypothesis. Island Press, Washington, DC
Darwin's theory of sexual selection is an intriguing one because it offers an explanation of human striving and cultural value systems. The theory is that humans who are more sexually desirable will have more offspring and thus their traits will be passed on to future generations to a greater extent than those of less sexually desirable humans. As opposed to Darwin's other theory, natural selection, those who are the best adapted to their environment will be more likely to pass on their genes, or, "survival of the fittest", you might call sexual selection "survival of the sexiest." The theory is intended to in part explain why, when humans diverged from other primates, the human brain tripled in size in just two million years. At first glance, this theory also seems to explain much of the motivation behind human culture and achievement. Upon closer inspection, there are some fairly conspicuous problems with it, especially when it is extended to describe not only human evolution in the distant past but it the present, but it may still be the most plausible explanation available to explain why humans mental capacities have expanded so far beyond those of our primate relatives.
I recently learned about Social Scratch. Everyone scratches because it relives and irritation. We do it absentmindedly and so do apes. What I found interesting is that is become more of a social grooming. Unlike grooming where each ape is grooming each other silmutanesoiuly, in social scratching only the gromee is getting the benefit. These apes do this because of the “I know you know” on other words you scratch my back I scratch yours. (McGrew 136). I found this happening very often among the chimps more than the gorillas. I also noticed that they would pull their hair and they had many bald spots throughout their body. Why is that? I still haven’t discovered an answer, but I would like to know the reasoning behind
The structure of this essay is based on animals and humans mate choice strategies and gender differences and similarities. These factors are intertwined with males and females reproduction success for choosing the right mate and bearing the parental cost involved in the offspring upbringing. (Trivers, 1972, 1985).Animal males from the evolutionary perspectives seek fertile, strong, females as a security for their offspring reproduction. These males’ strategize for their mate choice by advertising their masculinity as men ready for a mate. (Buss & Barnes, 1986; Buss, 1987).The female animals chooses mate base on their sense of security so they prefer males capable to protect and bear the cost of parenting with them.(Trivers,1972).In humans, females prefer wealthy men with high status as mate (Bjorklund & shackleford, 1999; Buss, 1992) whereas males prefer to date young attractive females who considers as fertile with the ability for genes reproduction.
Biological factors (sex) and gender are correlated, but gender may or may not be caused by biological factors. Cherlin proposes four models of how gender is created: the biosocial model, the socialization model, the interactionist model and the patriarchic model. Only the first model, the “biosocial” model, allows for heredity and biological factors to play a role in determining gender. This model is based on the idea that biologically, men and women are predisposed to act a certain way “on average,” but also, that social factors play a strong role in determining whether biological tendencies prevail. According to this theory, biological differences account for only about a quarter of behavioral gender differences while social influences account for the remaining portion. Socialized traits are stronger than biological traits, and can eliminate biological traits, but biological tendencies are still important because it is a challenge for socialized traits to subdue biological traits. A good example of this is outlined in Ke...
Celli, Maura L., Satoshi Hirata, and Masaki Tomonaga. "Socioecological Influences On Tool Use In Captive Chimpanzees." International Journal Of Primatology25.6 (2004): 1267-1281. Academic Search Premier. Web. 16 Apr. 2014.
Traditional sex scripts of men and women create for a rape-supportive culture (Check & Malamuth, 1983). Rape is a logical extension of our sex role socialization process that legitimized coercive sexuality. Through these scripts men are taught to take initiative and persist attempts of sexual intimacy. Traits of dominance, aggression and violence are idolized (Martin, Taft & Resick, 2007). Women, on the other hand, are taught to not indicate their sexual interest or engage freely in sexuality. They should possess qualities of being passive, submissive and sexual gatekeepers (Martin, Taft & Resick, 2007).
From birth, one's sexuality is shaped by society. Cultures institute behaviors that are to be seen as the societal norms, which work to constantly reinforce societal expectations of how genders should act in relation to one another. Although some may argue that one's sexuality is an innate characteristic resulting from genetic makeup, there is a large amount of evidence pointing to its social construction instead. Through the power differences between males and females, established gender roles, and drastic economic shifts, society establishes sexuality and reinforces the behaviors that are expected of its citizens.