SEXUAL ACTS OF THE BONOBO

From Philosopedia

SEXUAL ACTS OF THE BONOBO

The bonobo, animals inaccurately called pygmy chimpanzees, lubricate the gears of social harmony with sex in all possible permutations and combinations: males with females, males with males, females with females, and even infants with adults. The sexual acts include intercourse, genital-to-genital rubbing, oral sex, mutual masturbation, and “French-kissing.” Frans de Waal, a primatologist at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia and author of Bonobo: The Forgotten Ape (1997), has said that

• Sex is there, it’s pervasive, it’s critical, and bonobo society would collapse without it. But it’s not what people think it is. It’s not driven by orgasm or seeking release. Nor is it often reproductively driven. Sex for a bonobo is casual, it’s quick, and once you’re used to watching it, it begins to look like any other social interaction.

In his book, de Waal found that, “The chimpanzee resolves sexual issues with power; the bonobo resolves power issues with sex.” {The New York Times, 22 April 1997}