Bruce Bagemihl - Biological Exuberance

“Virtuosity” in other areas of behavior is not generally exclusive to homosexual encounters either. The vast majority of courtship interactions, for example, involve the same set of behaviors typical for the species regardless of whether they are being performed between partners of the same or the opposite sex. There are notable exceptions, of course: the courtship “games” of female Rhesus Macaques and solicitations of female Japanese Macaques; “necking” interactions between male Giraffes; pirouette dances in male Ostriches; the vocal duets of Greylag gander pairs; aspects of courtship feeding in Laughing Gulls, Antbirds, Superb Lyrebirds, and Orange-fronted Parakeets; alternative bower displays in Regent Bowerbirds; and unique vocalizations during homosexual but not heterosexual interactions in male Emus and Japanese Macaques. Occasionally courtship activities are also performed at different rates or with different intensities: in same-sex pairs of Black-winged Stilts and Black-headed Gulls, for instance, certain courtship behaviors occur more frequently in same-sex pairs, others more commonly in opposite-sex pairs. All of these represent behavioral innovations in same-sex contexts, but they are atypical. Usually both homosexual and heterosexual courtships draw upon the same repertoire of behaviors, and in many cases same-sex interactions actually involve only a subset of the full behavioral suite that is characteristic of the species.

Thus, while homosexuality among animals is sometimes characterized by innovative or exceptional behaviors not found in heterosexual interactions, the opposite situation is equally, if not more, prevalent. It seems, then, that neither virtuosity nor mundanity of sexual expression are exclusive to either homosexual or heterosexual contexts. This is really not surprising: as we have already seen, a hallmark of sexual (and related) behaviors in animals is the tremendous range of variation found between species as well as among different individuals. For just about any pattern or trend that can be discerned, one that is contradictory or equivocal can be found. It stands to reason, then, that something like “sexual technique” would exhibit a similar range of diversity. And although Masters and Johnson may have found a greater level of technical proficiency in sex among some homosexual couples, this is probably an overly simplistic generalization even among people. A wider study sample that includes extensive cross-cultural information, as well as closer attention to age, gender and class differences, social contexts, and other factors, would likely reveal that (once again) human beings are much more like other species in this regard.

Homosexuality is part of our evolutionary heritage as primates: anyone looking at the prevalence and elaboration of homosexual behavior among our closest relatives in the animal kingdom will be led, eventually, to this conclusion. In fact, primatologist Paul L. Vasey traces the occurrence of homosexuality in primates back to at least the Oligocene epoch, 24-37 million years ago (based on its distribution and characteristics among contemporary primates). 49Some of the most organized and developed forms of homosexuality among animals can be found in the more than 30 species of monkeys and apes where this behavior occurs. Bonobos, for instance, engage in both male and female homosexual interactions with disarming frequency and enthusiasm, and they have also developed many unique forms of sexual expression, including a type of lesbian tribadism known as genito-genital rubbing. Similar elaborations of homosexual patterns are found among Stumptail Macaques, Gorillas, Hanuman Langurs, and many other monkey and ape species. In addition to highly developed systems of same-sex interaction and diverse sexual techniques, a number of other aspects of homosexual activity in primates are particularly salient. Among these are various forms of pair-bonding such as consortships, “favorite” partners, or sexual friendships; evidence for exclusive or preferential homosexual activity in some individuals (as discussed in the preceding section); female orgasm in monkeys and apes, in both homosexual and heterosexual contexts; female-centered or matrifocal societies, as well as male alliances and other groups of cooperating males in some species; and the wide range of nonreproductive heterosexual activities found in many primates. 50

In addition to being part of our evolutionary heritage, homosexuality is also part of our cultural heritage as primates—for same-sex activity in monkeys and apes offers us some startling examples of cultural traditions among animals. Although “culture” is something that we typically associate with human beings, many animals innovate behaviors and then pass them on from generation to generation through learning. Zoologists speak of this as “cultural” behavior in animals—or, if the activity is less well developed, as “precultural” or “protocultural” behavior. Animal cultural traditions are widespread and often highly complex, occurring in many different kinds of species and involving behaviors as diverse as foraging and hunting techniques, communication patterns and song dialects, forms of social organization, response to predators, characteristics and locations of home sites and shelters, and migration patterns. 51Perhaps the most famous example of animal cultural behavior concerns food-gathering techniques in wild Japanese Macaques: in the mid-1950s, one female invented several ways of accessing novel food items (introduced by investigators), including sweet-potato washing, peanut digging, and “placer mining” for wheat. Within ten years 90 percent of all troop members had acquired these habits, which were being learned spontaneously by younger animals and passed on to subsequent generations.

“Culture” can also involve social behaviors: male caretaking of infants in Japanese Macaques, for example, is characteristic of only certain populations and appears to be a learned behavior, acquired by some individuals or troops and not others. Sexuality—including homosexual activity—can also bear the hallmarks of cultural activity. Scientists studying mounting behavior by females—once again in Japanese Macaques—suggest that whether and how females mount male or other female partners may represent a form of protocultural behavior. Certain mounting positions, for example, seem to become more “popular” in some troops over time, only to wane and be replaced by others. Likewise, masturbation among females appears to be learned through observation or other social channels. Although a capacity for homosexual activity (along with reverse mounting and masturbation) is probably an innate characteristic of the species (as evidenced by at least some level of these activities in most populations), its occurrence between different troops and individuals is highly variable. Key aspects of such activities are apparently being learned and passed on through space and time. This indicates that “traditions” or patterns of sexual activity may be innovated and then transmitted via a web of social interactions, moving between and within population groups, geographic areas, and generations. Sexuality, including aspects of both same-sex and opposite-sex interactions, is also considered to exhibit aspects of cultural traditions in at least two other primates, Stumptail Macaques and Savanna Baboons. 52

Not only is sexuality itself a form of cultural behavior, it can also impact and intersect with other sorts of cultural innovations in primates, often in surprising ways. In fact, nonreproductive sexual activities, including homosexual behaviors, may have contributed to the development of a number of significant cultural “milestones”: hallmarks of evolutionary and cultural change that are considered to be defining characteristics of “humanness,” yet which also exist in prototypical form in some of our primate relatives (and presumably also in our protohuman ancestors). In this section we’ll briefly consider the role that sexuality might have played in the development of primate communication systems and the origin of language, in the manufacture and use of tools, and in the creation of social taboos and rituals. Caution must always be exercised in making direct comparisons between animals and people, and most of these areas are only beginning to be studied in any detail. Nevertheless, primate (homo)sexuality and the “traditions” associated with it offer us a striking mirror of some of our most “human” characteristics—and perhaps even a window into our evolutionary past and cultural history.