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Ecology & Nature
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 Biological
Exuberance : Animal Homosexuality and Natural Diversity by
Bruce Bagemihl, John Megahan (Illustrator)
Bruce Bagemihl writes that Biological
Exuberance: Animal Homosexuality and Natural Diversity was a
"labor of love." And indeed it must have been, since
most scientists have thus far studiously avoided the topic of
widespread homosexual behavior in the animal kingdom--sometimes in
the face of undeniable evidence. Bagemihl begins with an overview
of same-sex activity in animals, carefully defining courtship
patterns, affectionate behaviors, sexual techniques, mating and
pair-bonding, and same-sex parenting. He firmly dispels the
prevailing notion that homosexuality is uniquely human and only
occurs in "unnatural" circumstances. As far as the
nature-versus-nurture argument--it's obviously both, he concludes.
An overview of biologists' discomfort with their own observations
of animal homosexuality over 200 years would be truly hilarious if
it didn't reflect a tendency of humans (and only humans) to
respond with aggression and hostility to same-sex behavior in our
own species. In fact, Bagemihl reports, scientists have sometimes
been afraid to report their observations for fear of recrimination
from a hidebound (and homophobic) academia. Scientists' use of
anthropomorphizing vocabulary such as insulting, unfortunate,
and inappropriate to describe same-sex matings shows a
decided lack of objectivity on the part of naturalists.
Astounding as it sounds, a number of scientists
have actually argued that when a female Bonobo wraps her legs
around another female ... while emitting screams of enjoyment,
this is actually "greeting" behavior, or
"appeasement" behavior ... almost anything, it seems,
besides pleasurable sexual behavior.
Throw this book into the middle of a crowd of
wildlife biologists and watch them scatter. But Bagemihl doesn't
let the scientific community's discomfort deny him the opportunity
to show "the love that dare not bark its name" in all
its feathery, furry, toothy diversity. The second half of this
hefty tome is filled with an exhaustive array of species that
exhibit homosexuality, complete with photos and detailed
scientific illustrations of the behaviors described. Biological
Exuberance is a well-researched, thoroughly scientific, and
erudite look at a purposefully neglected frontier of zoology. --Therese
Littleton
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This paper explores
the relationship between identity theory and environmental philosophy in order
to help conceptualize queer subjectivity in a way that would thwart an otherwise
uncritical incorporation and/or recuperation of behaviors that perpetuate
ecological peril.
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From the Australian
Humanities Review, November, 1997
Excerpt:
Biological explanations of psychological, behavioral
or cognitive tendencies have typically been highly controversial.
In recent decades, the social sciences have spawned a number of
such contentious theses: think of Arthur Jensen's genetic theories
of IQ; Hans Eysenck's genetic theories of personality; Edward O.
Wilson's socio-biological theories of sexual relations; Richard
Herrnstein and Charles Murray's theories of race and IQ. All these
authors position themselves, quite self-consciously, in the role
of intellectual maverick. By bringing biological data to bear on
questions that others have been too timid or intimidated to ask,
these authors have sought to refigure scientific, cultural and
economic politics...
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