Saturday, January 05, 2008

 
I read a lot of this crap, but this was a title I just couldn't pass on:

Cost of Coitus:
Male Monkeys Pay for Sex



From AFP/Google:

monkey
PARIS (AFP) — Selling sex is said to be humankind's oldest profession but it may have deep evolutionary roots, according to a study into our primate cousins which found that male macaques pay for intercourse by using grooming as a currency.

Michael Gumert of Nanyang Technological University in Singapore made the discovery in a 20-month investigation into 50 long-tailed macaques in Kalimantan Tengah, Indonesia, New Scientist reports on Saturday.

On average, females had sex 1.5 times per hour.

But this rate jumped to 3.5 times per hour immediately after the female had been groomed by a male -- and her partner of choice was likely to be the hunky monkey that did the grooming.


"Hunky Monkey"? I bought a pint of that at the convenience store last night.

Market forces also acted on the value of the transaction.

If there were several females in the area, the cost of buying sex would drop dramatically -- a male could "buy" a female for just eight minutes of nit-picking.

But if there were no females around, he would have to groom for up to 16 minutes before sex was offered.

The work supports the theory that biological market forces can explain social behaviour, the British weekly says.

"There is a very well-known mix of economic and mating markets in the human species itself," said Ronald Noe of France's University of Strasbourg.

"There are many examples of rich old men getting young attractive ladies."


I'm not a social psychologist, an anthropologist, or even a macaque. I am a male, though, I even have a girlfriend. A girlfriend I do stuff for. Stuff that I don't expect sex in return for. I won't even comment on the "3.5 times per hour" statistic.

I do know a little bit about monkey socialization. I know that "grooming" is not done so much to clean the fur of other primates, but is more of a bonding activity. It's not specifically done male on female or vice versa, males also groom other males, females groom females.

I understand that it can be sexy to throw the prostitution angle into this story, but I really don't see that as being the crux of this story.

How about coming to the conclusion that female macaques who are properly socialized through grooming, who feel better about themselves and their place in the group are more likely to engage in sexual activity? Probably not as sexy, I probably wouldn't have read an article with a title indicating that. Which is probably my point.

I didn't read this study, I read a news article about the study. An internet news article like this is not written to unearth fact, it's written to attract readers who may click on a link on the same page that would take the reader to a page containing an advertisement for some product or service, earning AFP/Google a few cents.

"Hunky Monkey." You know you're not dealing with a scientist when you read that.

BOJ
...will now insist that la Güera refer to him only as "hunky monkey"...

Comments: Post a Comment

<< Home

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?

The Bert Convey
Principle
Friends' Blogs
My Photo
Name:
Location: United States

I'm not telling you anything...

archives