A few of the writers here at Psychology Today (Drs. Chris Ryan, Frans de Waal and Vanessa Woods) recently mentioned Bonobos. So what's a Bonobo you ask? Actually, it's really odd that we don't hear a lot more about these little African primates since they apparently share almost 99% of our DNA.
Sometimes called Pygmy Chimpanzees, the females are sexually receptive most of the time and frequently take the lead in opposite sex, same sex and group sex relations. In other words, they swing all the time...and not just from the trees. Furthermore, because the female's genitals are located near the front of her body, face-to-face passion that includes long soulful kissing is a common element of their lovemaking.
Because we are so closely related, researchers like to study the Bonobos as a means of better understanding the roots of our behavior. The chimps, after all, were never evicted from the Garden of Eden so what they do is probably a pretty close approximation of what we would do if only humans were less culturally biased and followed a more natural course.
Among the benefits to be gained from going with - rather than against - Mother Nature, would be the realization that sex can be very useful in ways far beyond its obvious mental/physical health advantages. It can be used to ease stress and to maintain relationships, to reduce violent conflicts and as a means of commercial exchange. The philosophy here is as simple as it is profound. Pleasure is understood to be the most potent easer of pain. Good sex is accepted as a diffuser of tension and love is seen as the most direct way of lessening conflict. Whoever heard of making war and enjoying an orgasm at the same time?
Reportedly, there is no sexual competition in Bonobo society and every member gets his or her fill every day. There is, not remarkably, very little fighting, hardly any vicious fighting and certainly no fighting to the death. Peace through pleasure and sex as a means of minimizing conflict are primary social stratagems among these passionate and compassionate animals.
Did I say animals? Perhaps I should reserve that term to for those that rape, extort, torture and kill their own kind.
