Posted by llrrrpp on September 16, 2006, at 7:40:15
In reply to Re: Oh: aberrrant! » Jost, posted by Estella on September 2, 2006, at 13:19:55
> > How are we aberrant, though--or more aberrant than other animals?
>
> I think the differences between the sexual behaviour of people and the sexual behaviour of other primates (as our closest relatives) are very pronounced (hence we are abberant)
>Hi Estella,
Glad you cleared up the abhorrent/aberrant thingiebop!As it turns out, Chimps tend to be pretty agressive, and have males that will overpower the females to get what they want (food etc). This stuff we've known about for a long time.
BUT another species of primate, the Bonobo, is just as closely (if not more) related to us homo sapiens. They mate face to face (among other positions). Not just to make babies either. They mate in heat and out of heat. To form social bonds, relieve social tension, and celebrate when a little conflict is solved (bonobo make-up-sex!). They masterbate, and often have sexual encounters of same-sex individuals, or involving more than just a pair of individuals.
Perhaps the most interesting thing to me is that there is less physical agression in this species, compared to chimpanzees (in which male chimps will seek and challenge, often to the death, other bands of male chimps from neighboring territories). In contrast, the bonobo females seem to have a lot of control over the food resources, and seem to form the core stability of the social group. The males have to be "granted" resources by the women, since they cannot rely on their physical strength alone.
There's one woman who is kind of like an advocate to sexual freedom & expression. Her website comes across as a porn website, but if you can navigate through all of that stuff, you might be able to find some interesting material on how Bonobo society uses sex in the place of agression as the social glue of society. Her name might be Block? I cannot remember. oh well.
sorry to take you off on a tangent. Just thought I'd add my 2 cents.. :)
poster:llrrrpp
thread:682052
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/relate/20060621/msgs/686481.html