Fairfax, VA, USA. Should anyone here not know the joys of great ape sexuality, read on. Should anyone be unaware of the primate art of love, go catch up on your Ovid or Havelock Ellis and get back to me. [N1]

For the rest of you, learn by reading, if not participating in the great sexual binary that is a mammal’s evolutionary heritage.

This is not rocket science or even Moby Dick. [N2] Open your eyes and ears. Forget the nonsense that passes for gender theory and all shall be revealed, including the reasons for that warm feeling in the area between your legs.

Never lose sight of that warm feeling.

Sex in the great apes is partially separated from the reproduction of our species. Our ape capacity to mate throughout our cycles combined with a strong female sex drive allows us to exchange sex for male commitment, such as it is, and paternal care. Without our great ape sexuality we share with the bonobos, there is no nuclear family. [N3]

Humans And Apes

Humans and chimpanzees do not look much alike on the outside. However their genome differs only by an estimated 1.3 percent. Geneticists have known for quite a while that this is not definitive.

 

The crucial differences between the species lie in the translation of the genetic make-up in protein building.  

 

 

The Primate order includes over 375 species. The family Hominidae includes the great apes, of which humans are a representative. There are others: two species of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes and P. paniscus), two of gorillas (Gorilla gorilla and G. beringei) and the two species of orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus and P. abelii).

 

Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology examined the activity of around 21,000 genes in the heart, liver, kidneys, testicles and brain of both species.

 

With regard to genetic structure and activity, the brain shows the smallest differences between humans and chimpanzees. This is true even though we differ predominantly from chimpanzees through brain functions such as speech and memory.

 

Because chimpanzees are our closest living relatives, the chimp genome is the most useful key to understanding human biology and evolution, next to the human genome itself.

The mommy track exists for both bonobo and human and all the great apes.

In human culture, it is our women who take time off work to accompany children on school field trips, rarely a man. The chaperons are all moms, keeping up with work on their BlackBerry as they wait outside the boy’s bathroom, hoping their young apes will return without inflicting too much damage.Although, unlike the bonobos, the human species cannot be characterized as female-centered nor yet egalitarian, we share a sexual behavior that is part and parcel of our social relations. Like the bonobos, we engage in sex in virtually every partner combination. [N4] Sexual interactions occur more often among human and bonobo than among any other primates.

We both become sexually aroused remarkably easily and express this excitement in a variety of mounting positions and genital contacts. The face to face missionary position is not uncommon. The frontal orientation of the bonobo and human vulva and clitoris strongly suggests that our female genitalia are adapted for this position.

Instead of a few days out of our cycles, our females are almost continuously sexually attractive and active. Genito-genital rubbing is common between females. Moans and squeals soon follow that most likely reflect orgasmic experiences.

Male great apes, bonobos and humans, may also engage in pseudocopulation. Standing back to back, a male may briefly rub against the buttocks of another. Bonobo males practice so-called penis-fencing: two males hang face to face from a branch while rubbing their erect penises together. There are many variations among the male population.

Great ape erotic contacts are diverse and include oral sex, massage of another individual's genitals and intense tongue-kissing. Sexual activity is casual and relaxed, perhaps more so for bonobos than humans. Sex is a natural part of our lives that we both engage in occasionally but not continuously.

In the end, all associations except the one between mother and dependent offspring, are of a temporary character.

Cultural traits are carried by individuals and inherited through social learning. Most often, the female of the species, whether that be human or bonobo, has the responsibility for passing social learning to the next generation. The raising of young primates is an inextricable part of our daily world.

The importance of female cultural transmission cannot be minimized. Young primates spend more time with their mothers and other adult females than they do adult males. Female great apes bond in groups, sharing their unique cultural repertoires with each other and our children.

In any given group, the diversity of cultural traits is dependent on the number of female members. They spend more time with their offspring than any of the males. Females, in general, are the carriers of much of the intricacies and complex weave of human and bonobo culture.

Fruit is central to the diets of female great apes. Although most female primates will eat meat when it is available, the diet of many may contains relatively little animal protein.

Most male primates prefer a diet heavy in animal protein. Many great apes would seem to be perfectly content never to eat a vegetable or fruit except in the most dire of emergencies.

Females are critical in bonobo and human communities not only to transmit cultural consciousness but to ensure dietary diversity, especially for young, still growing apes. Culture grows exponentially as innovation rates depend on the number of cultural traits already present and taught to young children.

Most ape mothers live two lives. They must balance the demands of being a parent raising children to the everyday need of living in adult primate society. Work or children; children or work? Answer an infant’s cry or tend to a mate’s needs? A perpetual female conundrum so to speak, common to both bonobo and human mothers. How do our females find a way to blend and balance?

In the end, all associations except the one between mother and dependent offspring are of a temporary character. Fathers may leave, lovers may move on. The bond between mother and child has been the quintessential reality of great ape existence since both bonobo and human split off from our common ancestors.

The female ape is expected to be a caring mother to her children. The male ape is expected to be a good male ape. [N5]

The mommy track exists for both bonobo and human and all the great apes.

In human culture, it is our women who take time off work to accompany children on school field trips, rarely a man. The chaperones are all moms, keeping up with work on their BlackBerry as they wait outside the boy’s bathroom, hoping their young apes will return without inflicting too much damage.

Great apes don’t give up our law degrees when we become mothers. Female primates do not surrender their PhDs, their MDs, or their brains simply because they became pregnant. We cope with hostile work environments because we must. Stripped of gender theory and academic pretention, it’s who we are.

It is real life and we are here, so we make the best of it.

Ms. Lisa Jain Thompson is a Co-Founder & Principal of TS-Si. She also serves as a Contributing Editor and columnist for the TS-Si website. She maintains another site, StarPoet.com, for her poetry and literary works.

Ms. Thompson's signed articles contain her own opinions and do not necessarily convey an official position of TS-Si, its partners, or affiliates. Lisa welcomes your comments. Use the form below or email via her TS-Si Contact Page. We will not divulge any personal details or place you on a mailing list without your permission.

The TS-Si News Service is a collaborative effort by TS-Si.org editors, contributors, and corresponding institutions. Sources can include the cited individuals and organizations, as well as TS-Si.org staff contributions. Articles and news reports do not necessarily convey official positions of TS-Si, its partners, or affiliates. We welcome your comments. Use the form below to leave a public comment or send private correspondence via the TS-Si Contact Page. We will not divulge any personal details or place you on a mailing list without your permission.


TS-Si is dedicated to the acceptance, medical treatment, and legal protection of individuals correcting the misalignment of their brains and their anatomical sex, while supporting their transition into society as hormonally reconstituted and surgically corrected citizens.

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