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58
/100
I Index Overall Rating
Readers
68/100Critics
15/100Scholars
91/100Author:
Frans de Waal
Publisher:
W. W. Norton & Company
Date:
April 5, 2022
Primatologist Frans de Waal draws on decades of observation and studies of both human and animal behavior to argue that despite the linkage between gender and biological sex, biology does not automatically support the traditional gender roles in human societies. While humans and other primates do share some behavioral differences, biology offers no justification for existing gender inequalities. Using chimpanzees and bonobos to illustrate this pointâtwo ape relatives that are genetically equally close to humansâde Waal challenges widely held beliefs about masculinity and femininity, and common assumptions about authority, leadership, cooperation, competition, filial bonds, and sexual behavior. Chimpanzees are male-dominated and violent, while bonobos are female-dominated and peaceful. In both species, political power needs to be distinguished from physical dominance. Power is not limited to the males, and both sexes show true leadership capacities.
What The Reviewers Say
The primate tales that de Waal uses to discuss gender are both fascinating and enlightening.
De Waal turns again to the ape world, this time to explore the connection between gender and biology. As I said, brave. Whether he’s convincing is another matter.
There are readers who will walk away from this text more sympathetic to homosexuality and gender fluidity in humans and more open to the idea that women can be powerful and men can be nurturing. Amid the hypermisogynistic conclusions of most pop-evolution pundits, this is not nothing; I could imagine Different as a useful if mild prophylactic against, say, Jordan Peterson. But to be seduced by essentialism, and especially zoological essentialism, would be a mistake for feminists.
A game-changer, potentially no less significant to the field than Foucault’s The History of Sexuality, but in a noncanonical fashion, and void of the usual tropes.
