“Different: Gender Through the Eyes of a Primatologist”

“While it is always unwise to ignore biology, it is a simplification to attribute existing social roles to it. Modern knowledge of animal and human behavior indicates a more flexible arsenal of responses than is often assumed.” (p. 290)  

This warning echoes throughout the new book, Different, by primatologist Frans de Waal. Different contains a wonderful presentation of the author’s insights from a long career observing primates, and a long life making personal observations of his fellow humans (whom he never lets you forget are also primates). Simply stated, the essential topic is the old nature-nurture question as applied to human sex and gender, but backed up with the most recent studies of neuroscience; observations of chimps, bonobos, and other primates; and measures of actual human behavior (as opposed to questionnaires, which are subject to self-censorship).

A counter-theme of DeWaal's book is to correct many misconceptions in prior popular science writing. DeWaal constantly presents summaries of theories from earlier authors who claimed the authority of having made observations of male and female primate behavior. DeWaal does a wonderful job of showing the ways that many of these theories were flawed, sometimes because the primates under observation were in abnormal captive situations, and sometimes because the observers were extraordinarily biased by the expectations of male-centric human culture, especially among the early primatologists. Despite many years of improving observations, thanks in no small part to the women who entered the field, the picture has changed. Women scientists were especially influential in figuring out how to observe troops of wild chimpanzees and bonobos. 

DeWaal still finds the cultural blindness when observers claim to know about the inborn nature of behavior — both of us and our evolutionary relatives:

“Yet in academic discourse, nurture still often is the sole message. I’m at a loss as to why this is so, and I’ve tried to poke holes into this position by describing how males and females behave in our next of kin. Not that the conclusion is crystal clear, but at a minimum, it’s considerably richer than the cliché of the male monkey overlord that was foisted upon us during an era of limited knowledge. Human gender differences have enough commonalities with primate sex differences to clarify that we didn’t escape the forces of evolution.” (p. 314)

A young male chimpanzee, it turns out,
likes to play with toy vehicles and balls,
while girl chimps like dolls, and even use
wood sticks or other objects in the wild to 
imitate mothering behavior.

In part due to DeWaal's own primate studies and publications in the 1980s and 1990s, the contrasting sexual behavior of males and females in bonobo and chimpanzee societies have become iconic because chimps are often violent, including the killing of infants by male members of the troop, while bonobos live a nonviolent life full of relaxed sex acts between just about any combination of partners. The key observation in Different is that both the males and the females of various species have their own social order, in which both sexes cooperate, and that female leaders often exert a great deal of authority and leadership in the troops of animals. The alpha female often has the power to determine which male becomes or remains the alpha male of the troop.

Different offers many insights about numerous issues of sex and gender and what we can learn from our close primate relatives. For example, there's the question of whether differences in male and female behavior are innate or learned. Basically, the answer seems to be both. It's complicated, and I won't try to replicate the details of the discussion.

For another example, the question of male or female brains --

"The only point both sides agree on is that the brains of women and men are more similar than they are different. Animals play a critical role in this debate, as their brains develop independently from the human cultural environment. If their brains vary by sex—and they do—why should ours be gender neutral? A recent study of capuchin monkeys, for example, reported a remarkable divergence between male and female brains, which differ in cortical areas associated with higher-order functioning." (p. 316). 

The complexity of the topic of gender is important, and DeWaal offers a deep study of how our society deals with the differences between the sexes and how the differing roles of the sexes arise:

"Except for purely cultural embellishments—such as pink for girls and blue for boys—these roles integrate both nature and nurture. As a result, they are more resistant to change than you’d expect. In this day and age, some parents opt for a gender-neutral upbringing of their children to throw off what they see as society’s shackles. They refuse to reveal their child’s anatomy, sometimes not even informing the grandparents. They cut the hair of girls or let that of boys grow long, and they allow their children to dress any way they want, also if their son decides to go to school in a tutu. They do so in reaction to society’s gender stereotyping and the associated inequality. Note, however, that only one of the two words in gender inequality refers to a problem, and it’s not gender . No one would propose to fight racism by urging people of different races to try to look more alike. So why would we try to get rid of gender? Ultimately, such attempts fail to address the deeper problem of inequality. It blames the existence of genders for the moral and political shortcomings of society." (pp. 50-51). 

Many other topics of how animal behavior might provide hints about human behavior. In reading all the numerous and enlightening examples in Different, I was fascinated to learn how subtle and complex the communication and intelligence of primates can be, including observations of occasional female chimpanzees who exhibited male characteristics and behavior, but were treated normally by their fellow chimps.  

Other primates besides us humans also plan what they will do. In the author’s sketch, you can see a female with both a baby and a rock on her back. She's on the way to use the rock to crack some nuts that she finds good to eat. 

Even if you have read other popular science books about gender behavior and about aggression in primates and how it applies to human interactions, I strongly suggest that you read this one too. Maybe you'll remain convinced by the earlier authors, but DeWall will offer you some good material to think about in terms of the evolutionary heritage we share with these close relations of humanity:

"Outside science and sometimes within, a common belief seems to be that, while our bodies are a product of evolution, our minds are ours alone. Humans aren’t subject to the same laws of nature as animals, and we feel and think the way we do because we freely chose to. I consider this position a form of neo-creationism: it neither denies nor fully embraces evolution. As if evolution came to a screeching halt when it reached the human (and only the human) neck, thus leaving our lofty heads alone!"  (p. 316). 

My few quotations and descriptions of this book really can't capture how interesting it is!

Review © 2022 mae sander. Images taken from the book 

Different: Gender Through the Eyes of a Primatologist by Frans DeWaal, published 2022.