Podcast of the Month: What Primatology Teaches Us About Gender Differentiation

Primatology is commonly regarded as a branch of biology—one that is both entertaining and fascinating. The study of great apes appeals to us all the more because we see in the behaviors of these “anthropomorphs”—to use Linnaeus’s term—a satisfying mirror of human nature. Satisfying in two ways: it allows us to excuse our bestial tendencies, since we are, after all, merely cousins of wild animals (with whom we share 96% of our genetic makeup), and it flatters our sense of humanity, since we are, after all, the most highly evolved branch of the great family. Moreover, primatology is readily invoked in nature-versus-Culture debates, particularly when the aim is to sideline sociology and any form of structuralist approach and ensure the triumph of naturalism and essentialism.

But now primatology is stepping in to help us combat stereotypes. Frans de Waal, author of several acclaimed books on empathy in the animal kingdom, reveals that monkey behavior is more dependent on the environment in which they live than on some innate nature linked to their species. Thus, their preferences for “gendered” toys (a toy car or a doll held out to them to observe whether females and males have the same or different preferences) are more closely related to their desire to interact with the human offering the toy than to any fundamental inclination. If a chimpanzee perceives signals—even faint ones, and obviously sent unconsciously by the human—suggesting that a gendered behavior is expected of it, it tends to perform that behavior. But then, without human intervention, do monkeys have gendered preferences? De Waal tells us that in the wild, both female and male chimpanzees pick up stones and cradle them tenderly. But females do so more often than young males. And above all, they all do so more frequently when they are in an environment that is either very safe or, conversely, very unsafe. In other words, behaviors are more gendered when primates experience either excessive comfort or excessive discomfort. They are more neutral in a balanced environment.

If you’d also like to learn about how great apes regulate sexual harassment, how they adopt orphaned infants, and how they treat non-heterosexual individuals, go listen to this “La Terre au Carré” podcast on France Inter. You’ll never look at the “biological” argument the same way again.