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Friday, August 28, 2009

The Ladies Today in Anthropomorphism

Posted by Jesse Vernon on Fri, Aug 28, 2009 at 3:50 PM

I understand that in order for science news to be palatable to the masses, it must translate dull details into captivating bling—but everyone wants to read about gorillas! In this article, CNN covers the pending visit of a male gorilla to three female gorillas at a London zoo.

Girl gorillas go ape for French pinup hunk

One female gorilla shrieked in delight, while another wedged the poster in a tree to stare at it. A third, clearly overcome by emotion, held the photo close to her chest—then ate it.

Though slightly funny, like in the segment above, the piece reads like a shoddy parody of the Onion and offending turns of phrase abound: The female gorillas await their "prospective boyfriend," a "brooding French hunk," a "hirsute lothario." This sort of speech dehumanizes humans; to what level does it bring these complex beasts? I'm no zoologist, but I don't believe that gorillas seduce one another (is seduction necessary if instinct is mutual?), let alone shriek like tweens at photographs. Again, yes, anthropomorphism is inevitable when discussing animal behavior, particularly outside of scholarly contexts, but dredging up tired sexist tropes is old hat. Find a new way to spin your stories, please.

Slightly related:

xkcd

Comments (9) RSS

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Did you meow?

Posted by Baconcat on August 28, 2009 at 4:18 PM

Well, how would it sound if the girls flung their poo at the pictures? Or jammed the pictures in their cracks? You could make an argument they were showing how horny they were for photos of gorillas.

Posted by Vince on August 28, 2009 at 4:36 PM

girl gorillas go ape for man with hairy chest ... or, actually, from their viewpoint, a guy gorilla who shaved his pubes.

It's all depending on how you look at things.

Posted by Will in Seattle

on August 28, 2009 at 5:04 PM

Obviously those female gorillas weren't from Washington.

They prefer sallow reedy guys with moody expressions.

Posted by Miss Jane Goodall on August 28, 2009 at 5:17 PM

Mate choice in a wide variety of species is intricate, often surprising, and worthy of appreciation in its own right without being compared to humans.

Posted by rob!

on August 28, 2009 at 6:39 PM

I wish some girl would be emotionally overcome enough to eat my picture....

Posted by Dian Fossey Digs Me on August 28, 2009 at 8:46 PM

Actual gorilla mating behavior is far more chauvinist (by human standards) than anything depicted in this piece. Google "gorilla harems."

Posted by Furcifer on August 29, 2009 at 3:16 PM

Gorilla mating behaviour is often started by the females.They can be quite assertive about it.
They stare incessantly at him, touch him up, can sit in his lap.The males can be pretty macho as well, but it's not at all chauvunistic.

Posted by gorillagal on August 29, 2009 at 6:31 PM

"I'm no zoologist, but I don't believe that gorillas seduce one another (is seduction necessary if instinct is mutual?), let alone shriek like tweens at photographs"

Yeah, you are definitely no zoologist. Gorillas have very complicated, human like, social networks. If mating is "instinct" in them , it's instinct in us too. The only reason the girls are not at all choosy here is probably because they currently have no man. It's not a lie that they 'go ape' at the prospect of one.

Posted by allie ballie on August 29, 2009 at 11:51 PM