Demonic Males: Apes and the Origins of Human Violence
by Richard Wrangham and Dale Peterson
This work examines two topics that we "civilized" people often find difficult to deal withviolence and sexuality. Though they do look at other species (hyenas and lions,
for example), the authors' main focus is modern ape behavior and its possible relationship to
human behavior.
The authors outline how four of the five ape species (orangutans, chimpanzees, gorillas,
and humans) each engage in violent behavior that stems directly from competition for food,
reproductive rights, and other resources. According to their interpretations of recent ape
observations, gorilla females stay with their dominant male silverback because he protects their
offspring from other silverbacks who won't hesitate to kill one generation of offspring to ensure
the paternity of the next. Underdeveloped orangutan males regularly rape females as a result of
being unattractive to females and therefore low on the reproductive "totem pole". Male
chimpanzees engage in female battering and intimidation to ensure their dominance over all the
females in the group. Predominantly male chimpanzee raiding parties enter neighboring
chimpanzee territories, track and find isolated members of the rival group, and then seriously
injure or even kill them. The authors argue that with our history of similar behaviors, humans are
also a species dominated by "demonic males". (I join the authors in using extreme caution in
explaining such behaviors as “natural” and in no way imply that such behavior in humans is to
be condoned in any way.)
The exception to this rule is the fifth ape species, the bonobo. Bonobos strongly resemble
chimpanzees and are genetically very closely related to humans, but were only identified as a
separate species in the early twentieth century. Bonobos evolved in an area where there was little
competition for food resources. Thus, the authors argue, they were free to develop behaviors that
weren't involved in assuring that any one ape got the lion's share of resources, to mix a metaphor.
Bonobos have a female-dominated society, where the social position of one's mother
determines the offspring's social position. Sexual behavior is used as a tension-diffusing tool, and
is openly and freely practiced between both sexes and with members of the same sex. Because
sex is practiced so freely, there is no way for any male to know if he is the father of any
individual offspring, so violence over paternity (such as that evidenced by the gorilla) is
eliminated. If a male does get violent with a female, the female need only emit a call for help and
several of her female allies will immediately come to her aid.
Demonic Males confronts the nature vs. nurture debate squarely, and has a definite
sociobiological slant. It also offers an interesting and somewhat wistful look at "how it could
have been" and possibly how it could be for us humans. A fascinating read written in a fastpaced and easily read narrative, this book is a must-read for those interested in the connection
between humans and the other apes.
 2000 by Regina M. Raab