In bonobo societies, all bonobos frequently engage in sexual contact with other members of the community, regardless of sex. Female bonobos in particular are quite promiscuous with both fellow females and males; thus, bonobo society is matrilineal or matrifocal. Since the patriline of each member is unknown due to female bonobos having many sexual partners, the female bonobos take communal care of their collective young, and the male bonobos take on other community-care roles instead. It is theorized that this leads to lower levels of violent conflict, as opposed to chimpanzee, human, and other primate societies that are patriarchal, since male members of these societies must find ways to identify their offspring which inevitably leads to violent, controlling behavior toward female members as well as violence & competitive behavior toward other males who may pose a threat to their social statuses. Bonobo societies are extremely peaceful in comparison to other primate societies.
The feature musical film Mamma Mia! (2008), directed by Phyllida Lloyd, shows an example of what a matrifocal society, resembling the structure of bonobo society, could look like for humans; where several females care for a child whose exact paternity is unknown, and instead of violence resort to prosocial behavior (joyfully singing and dancing) in order to resolve conflict. In this essay I will attempt to
WALTHAM, MA—Signaling a major shift in demographic preferences, a study published Wednesday by Brandeis University found that fewer millennials want to live. “In contrast to previous generations that regarded living as a core part of their identity, millennials as a whole seem indifferent or even highly resistant to it,” said lead author Ellen Towey, attributing the change in mentality among those born between 1980 and 1995 not to laziness or insufficient effort on their part, but rather a pervasive feeling that living is simply no longer within reach. “Despite seeing their parents and grandparents live for years, millennials are often so pessimistic about their own prospects for existence that many have lost interest in walking the earth altogether.” Towey went on to say that without adequate opportunities to live at present, some millennials are in the meantime exploring more viable alternatives.
As much as I enjoy Thanksgiving, I can get pretty stressed out thinking about the charged political conversations that always seem to break out between my uncle and me. No matter which topic we broach, Thanksgiving dinner is usually pretty tense because I read news outlets owned by liberal billionaires while my uncle Robert reads news outlets owned by conservative billionaires.
Every year I try to be optimistic and tell myself that this Thanksgiving will be pleasant and cordial, but without fail, my uncle and I always end up butting heads over the political viewpoints of the billionaires who own the news that we read. Things always start off so pleasant—there’s family and great food and lots of laughs—but before I know it, my uncle and I are loudly and passionately recapitulating the political viewpoints of two different billionaires with such different ideologies that, ultimately, the rest of my family needs to step in before one of us storms away from dinner entirely.
