Notes - Empty Hands, Open Arms - page 178

8 But reasonably enough Ernst Schwarz, “Das Vorkommen des Schimpansen auf den Linken
Congo-Ufer,” Revue de Zoologie et de Botanique Africaines 16, no. 4 (1929): 425-26, referenced
in Wrangham and Peterson, Demonic Males , 202.
8 Having remarked the similarities Harold J. Coolidge, “ Pan paniscus: Pigmy Chimpanzee from
South of the Congo River,” American Journal of Physical Anthropology 17 no. 1 (1933): 1-57,
quoted in Savage-Rumbaugh and Lewin, Kanzi , 96.
9 Though the word bonobo Wrangham and Peterson, Demonic Males , 293.
9 While Tratz and Heck's classification H. Lyn White Miles, an anthropologist at the University
of Tennessee, writes: “There are significant differences between humans and great apes, but we
share 98-99 per cent of our genetic make-up with them. If we were to strictly follow our own taxo-
nomic system of classification, scientists would place the great apes in one genus with hominids
(humans and near-human ancestors). But, an anthropocentric (human-centred) view prevails and
humans are conveniently placed in a different genus from apes.” “Language and the Orang-utan:
The Old 'Person' of the Forest,” in The Great Ape Project: Equality Beyond Humanity , ed. Paola
Cavalieri and Peter Singer (New York: St. Martin's Griffin, 1993), 44.
9 Even Carl Linnaeus Mary G. Smith, “A History of Research,” in Nichols, The Great Apes:
Between Two Worlds , 36. Also see Jared Diamond's essay in The Great Ape Project: “Since our
genus name Homo was proposed first, it takes priority, by the rules of zoological nomenclature,
over the genus name Pan coined for the 'other' chimps. Thus, there are not one but three species of
genus Homo on Earth today: the common chimpanzee, Homo troglodytes ; the pygmy chimpanzee,
Homo paniscus ; and the third chimpanzee or human chimpanzee, Homo sapiens . Since the gorilla
is only slightly more distinct, it has almost equal right to be considered a fourth species of Homo .”
“The Third Chimpanzee,” in Cavalieri and Singer, The Great Ape Project , 97.
9 It clarified that the term De Waal is responding to a New Yorker article by Ian Parker, in which
Parker writes: “When I asked Hohmann about the bonobo sex at Lui Kotal, he said, 'It's noth-
ing that really strikes me.' Certainly, he and his team observe female 'g-g rubbing,' which is
not seen in chimpanzees, and needs to be explained. 'But does it have anything to do with sex?'
Hohmann asked. 'Probably not. Of course, they use the genitals, but is it erotic behavior or a greet-
ing gesture that is completely detached from sexual behavior?' A hug? 'A hug can be highly sexual
or two leaders meeting at the airport. It's a gesture, nothing else. It depends on the context.'” Ian
Parker, “Swingers,” New Yorker , July 30, 2007, http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/07/30/
070730fa_fact_parker .
This question is an important one, and seeing Parker passed over it briefly in this way, I got the
sense of a dismissal, an interest more in contradicting readers' expectations rather than in under-
standing bonobos. Like human sexuality, that of bonobos is nuanced and plays important roles in
social bonding. Certainly Gottfried Hohmann, a research associate at the Max Planck Institute for
Evolutionary Anthropology, knows this. He is a serious scientist, one of the prominent researchers
in the field, and a reader can't help but wonder whether Hohmann is being described with the same
nuance with which he might deliver his views.
Parker's article became a subject of some controversy after its publication. Frans de Waal cri-
tiqued his portrayal of bonobos on the website of Skeptic magazine, stating, “The impression that
there are new discoveries is merely a product of creative writing.” Here is de Waal's full quotation:
“Fortunately, a United States court settled this monumental issue in the Paula Jones case against
President Bill Clinton. It clarified that the term 'sex' includes any deliberate contact with the gen-
italia, anus, groin, breast, inner thigh, or buttocks. In short, when bonobos contact each other with
their genitals (and squeal and show other signs of apparent orgasm), any sex therapist will tell
you that they are 'doing it.'” (Here, he cites Susan Block, “Bonobo Bashing in the New Yorker,”
Counterpunch , July 25, 2007, http://www.counterpunch.org/block07252007.html .) Frans de Waal,
“Bonobos, Left & Right,” eSkeptic , August 8, 2007, http://www.skeptic.com/eskeptic/07-08-08/ .