Sexual Habits of Humans and Other Great Apes

So, Gorillas live alone with their mates and children. Orangutans live in their extended family. Chimps have a very large family or clan, and sometimes form larger alliances, like gangs or armies. As the chimp is smaller than the Gorilla or Orangutan, and since they are omnivorous, they often need help tracking down and catching live prey to eat. Gorillas don’t need others to help find food, as they are vegetarians; few Gorillas need help to sneak up on a broccoli.

Chimpanzees are also very territorial. Fights between nearby clans break out and they can be vicious.

Many a human male has been chimpanzee-ish: promiscuous, political, and war-like.

Then we come to the Bonobos. They are a subset of the Chimpanzee, but they are the most advanced (in brain power) of the apes, except for man. They are slightly smaller than the regular chimps. And they love sex, too. Some bonobos, male or female, will have sex with anyone, male or female. All the time. Over time, bonobos have many, many sex partners. And while they have their gangs and clans, instead of viciously fighting over a territory, they charge into battle and have sex with anyone and everyone. Make love, not war. The two clan leaders embrace each other, one arm around the other, each hand holding the other’s testicles.

Are there humans like bonobos? There are many men and women who would rather screw that shoot. And what about homosexuality? Yep, both there, too. How about the testicular grip? Well, the Old Testament gives many cases where people like Abraham would make a pact with another leader, and they’d hold each others’ balls while hugging. Even in the late Greek era, the members of the Senate in Athens would stand to “testify” before their colleagues while cupping their testes in one hand.

So, why do we marvel if humans, the most advanced ape, act in so many ways like the apes that we are related to? Instead of wondering why a man or a woman has chosen to have sex with someone other than his “spouse”, we humans immediately ask “Why? What caused that person to cheat?” and things like that. In reality, if we find a man or woman who has chosen one mate and stayed with that one mate forever, that is when we should ask, “What has caused him, or her, to be faithful to one companion, unlike the rest of the primates?”