Customer Reviews

Biological Exuberance: Animal Homosexuality and Natural Diversity

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The first part of the book is an independent 262 page exposition of homosexual, bisexual and transgendered animal sexuality. If you want to know what the birds and the bees are doing when Jerry Falwell isn't looking, this is the place to find out. Don't expect to find traditional family values in these pages. What you will discover instead is that animals aren't doing it for Darwin, they are doing it for fun. There are amazingly detailed descriptions, pictures and illustrations here of animals having all kinds of sex (that will amaze you), and most of it isn't for procreation.

More interesting to me, though, is the speculation on the sexual origins of language and culture in chapter 2 and the devastating examination in chapter 3 of bigotry in the biological sciences in over two hundred years of observations of animal homosexuality. Bagemihl shows, for example, that in science as in society, there's a presumption of heterosexuality. Field researchers have commonly assumed, with no independent verification, that whenever they see a pair of animals engaging in what appears to be sexual behavior they are observing a male-female pair. Conversely, whenever they observe a known same-sex pair engaging in behavior that would be classified as sexual between a male and female, they classify it in some other way. This protocol largely precludes the gathering of data about animal homosexuality even when it's being observed. In some cases, though, it resulted in published studies being repudiated as much as 20 years later when it was discovered that what was presumed to be heterosexual behavior in a population was really entirely homosexual. (It's an interesting fact that in some species heterosexuality has never been observed by scientists even when they go to great lengths to observe it over periods of many years.) Also, a lot of animal homosexuality that has been recognized as such has simply been excluded from the published reports. As a result, there is still widespread belief among scientists and the public that animal homosexuality is rare or nonexistent. People will believe otherwise after reading this book.

Chapter 4 looks at the attempts to explain away animal homosexuality and chapter 5 considers arguments on the other side that try to attach evolutionary value to homosexuality. Bagemihl rejects all the proposals on both sides, demonstrating the weakness of all the explanations and typically showing that they are plainly inconsistent with the evidence of animal behavior. Finally, he arrives at the question that the reader has been waiting for for almost 200 pages: "Why does same-sex activity persist--reappearing in species after species, generation after generation, individual after individual--when it is not 'useful'?" His answer is not to show that it is useful, but rather to treat the plain existence of homosexuality as a reductio ad absurdum argument against the biologists' assumption that only traits that contribute to reproduction will survive (i.e. are useful). In pursuing this line of thought Begemihl offers interesting descriptions of animals that are nonbreeders, animals that suppress reproduction, animals that segregate the sexes so that reproduction can't happen, animals that engage in birth control, and animals that engage in other nonreproductive behaviors. He also shows that a lot of the sex that actually occurs is not for reproduction, but apparently for pleasure. All of this he believes calls for a new conception of the natural biological world.

The last chapter describes some ideas for a new paradigm, which he calls Biological Exuberance and I must say that it is much less convincing than the rest of the book. It is interesting nonetheless. Much of the last chapter is a description of the myths about animals of native North Americans, the tribes of New Guinea, and indigenous Siberian people. When I started reading this chapter I began to wonder if I had accidentally picked up a different book, but in the end he makes a connection between the myths and biological reality. In fact, he shows that some of these myths contain more facts about animals than you can find in any scientific text. Some of the most bizarre of the myths turn out to be true.

So where does it end? In mystery. "Our final resting spot--the concept of Biological Exuberance--lies somewhere along the trajectory defined by these three points (chaos, biodiversity, evolution), although its exact location remains strangely imprecise." "Nothing, in the end, has really been 'explained'--and rightly so, for it was 'sensible explanations' that ran aground in the first place."

That's not a very satisfactory answer to my mind, but the book is nonetheless a source of many interesting phenomena and ideas. I enjoyed it greatly. I expect most people who read this long book will do as I have done--read part one completely and then selectively read about some particular animals in part two. The second part is an encyclopedia of the queer sexuality of approximately 300 species of mammals and birds. An appendix contains a long list of reptiles, amphibians, fishes, insects, spiders and domesticated animals in which homosexuality has been observed.

It was a very comprehensive listing and explanation of the various form of homosexuality, transgender, etc found in nature, though it entirely concentrated on birds and mammals. it also deals very, very well with biases, both intentional and unintentional in biological analysis and data gathering on the subject.

however, in one section, the author deals with all the many proposed 'causes' of homosexuality in nature, refuting them with examples of individual discrepancies, but then asserting that all are thus totally flawed, and there is no reason. Surely he should have realized that you cannot expect a single universal purpose across even the modest diversity of birds and mammals. I analogize it to expecting a single purpose of forelimbs. We see many applications and variations (hands, flippers, wings) and even total limblessnes, yet we do not assert them to be purposeless because one purpose cannot cover them all. It would have been far more logical to posit that homsexuality, or sexual plasticity, evolved at some point, and nature has since altered it in every species it is incorporated into, so that it's purpose in one species might be opposite that of another, or it might have no current purpose, simply tagging along as a neutral trait that offers neither benefit nor penalty until the species reaches a point where selection acts on it. I also feel that further investigation into homosexuality etc in "lower" organisms which are more instinct-driven would have added some valuable insight into this, and cannot help but wonder at their ommission.

the last section, however, was thoroughly disappointing. incorporating myths of anciet tribes as a source of knowledge (when we know they're wrong more often than not), extoling the virtues of these tribes in natural resource management (when we know they're responsible for the death of much of the pleistocene megafauna, and can watch species disappear in the fossil record the moment human fossils appear in a location), adding in Gaia theory (which can be falsified with even cursory examination of paleoecology), and an obscure philosophy about exuberance (which offers no qunatative analysis to support it), he concocts an awkward theoretical explanation which seems to be mostly a hasty addition in the need for some sort of conclusion.

Anthropology, geology, and even most all religions have all "updated" their views on the way the world works, based on our ever-unfolding knowledge and new discoveries. It's time that zoology has done the same! In Biological Exuberance, Bruce Bagemihl exposes the data that cries out for a new acceptance and understanding of animal behavior.

In the first part of the text, he systematically builds a case for "updating" our views. He explains why we can no longer continue believing that the very core of animal nature is based on scarcity and reproduction. By compiling the reports written by hundreds of scientists all over the world who have been "into the field to peek under the rocks," Bagemihl demonstrates without question that we must awaken to a new set of theories about wildlife, if we are to remain honest with the facts. A most interesting portion of this work is his uncovering of several reasons why these reports have been misused, overlooked, edited for content, or simply "tucked away" over the course of history. The last section of this part of his book is a dance into "the possible," in which he eloquently proposes some modifications we ought to consider to the traditional evolutionary theory. He has titled the book after these revolutionary ideas, and declares them merely a starting point for a dialogue he hopes he has initiated.

Seemingly unending descriptions of individual animals compose the second part of the book. Bagmihl has created the world's first sourcebook for future reference on the subject. (Try asking any librarian for a book on animal sexuality! This one's the only one you'll find!)

This book has been reviewed in dozens of mainstream city newspapers, in TIME Magazine, and has been featured in many radio programs across the U.S. All that I've seen are outstanding reviews. This book has become a gift from my heart to many of my friends and relatives. But sadly, I have a deep suspicion that Bagemihl's work might only become truly popular--first in the academic fields--long after we have all passed on.

The thing that particularly fascinated me about this book was the broad array of variations in physical gender found in animals. For many animals (e.g., hyenas, bears) a significant percentage of their population at any time is made up of intersexed individuals. Nature is both more strange, and more wonderful, than we usually perceive. The book was a real eye-opener.

Dr. Bagemihl presents us with information neglected or even suppressed for decades. The book is somewhat repetitious and longer than it might have been, but the author is determined to break through barriers of denial and resistence and to establish the scientific basis for his presentation. He does so convincingly and challenges the scientific establishment to a new examination of the facts and a letting go of cultural prejudices regarding human and animal sexuality. A extremely important book.

This book is like a much better researched Kinsey report of a subset of the animal kingdom. The author did a LOT of careful review of the literature to piece together many data putting the lie to the commonly-held belief that animals are either never same-sex directed OR are only that way b/c of strange circumstances. The author very carefully examines the marginalizing that has occurred in this exceedingly common set of same-sex behaviors and sets things right. I found most interesting the psychological aspect of the book, where he observed and put into context the most common reasons for scientists' omitting or marginalizing homosexual animal behavior. Parts of the book can seem very exhaustive, however. It is NOT a quick read. It does, however, repay close attention. I wish every fundamentalist would read this book and wrap their minds around the phenomenon of widespread bisexual and homosexual behaviors of many diff. types in the "lower" animals.

This book is an encyclopedia of animal sexual behavior. It explains the types of behavior animals exhibit and variations in it. The text describes how variants of sexual behavior are not necessarily about reproduction but about how conspecific individuals communicate, bond, and survive. (However, there are animals, most notably birds who will pair off and raise an egg, regardless of its provenance.) It does describe the standard breeding and baby-raising behaviors, too.

Anyone interested in animals, zoology, animal behavior, and other life sciences should read it.

People who are gay or interested in gay issues or just informed in general and have often heard the arguments that it is "unnatural" will derive a good deal of benefit from the book as well.

People who think homosexuality is "unnatural" might want to pick the book up, too. If you are worried that you are transgressing by reading about animals, realize that there are no religious edicts from any deity governing the behavior of animals or our reading about them.

This book finally and unequivocally puts to rest the notion that homosexuality, bisexuality, and transgenderism is somehow "unnatural".

The first half is a very interesting read, which throws a stark spotlight on how homophobic attitudes within academia and the scientific community contributed to extraordinary distortions of science. Ultimately, the scientific method is a one of humanity's most powerful tools for seeking truth. However, the observation of phenomena, which is the cornerstone of the scientific method, is obviously vulnerable to the subjective views and biases of the observer. Baghemil exposes how this vulnerability contributed to 150 years of distortion, obfuscation, and misinterpretation in biology and zoology.

The first half of the book is very engaging, but the second half of the book, The Wondrous Bestiary, is the real gem that you keep going back to again and again and want to read out loud from to friends and family. In this section, Baghemil profiles the sexuality of more than a hundred different species ranging from the Mute Swan to the Bottlenosed Dolphin. My favorite is the description of the "necking" behavior of Giraffes, which, it turns out, is a sexual/affectionate activity exclusive to MALE Giraffes. Think about that next time you see a photo of one Giraffe wrapping its neck around another's.

Finally, I believe that this book should be required reading for every religious person who has accepted the distorted or selective interpretations of scripture that have been used to justify persecution of individuals with variant sexualities for hundreds of years. As a person of faith and an environmentalist, I think there is no more elegant a statement of the fact that gay people are an instrinsic facet of the beautiful mosaic that is Creation than the incredible diversity of species that are profiled in this book. I highly recommend it.

Arturo

A well-supported and engagingly written study of homosexual behavior in animals, particularly mammals and birds. The book discusses the behavior of individual species, ways in which behavior can be studied, the implications for evolutionary theory and for the study of corresponding behaviors in humans, the place of reproduction in the natural world, and more.

I read natural history and nature writing voraciously and had no idea that these behaviors were so prevalent, which seems like an argument in itself for Bagemihl's criticism of zoologists' ignoring them. As he points out, all mating behaviors are hard to observe (it was amazing to learn that at the time the book was written Black-Headed Grosbeaks had only once been observed mating; they are a common bird that breeds in North America). At times, it seems to me that Bagemihl's analysis overinterprets, assuming that all incidences of mounting, for example, are sexual. Still, enough of his evidence appears irreproachable to make the book a real eye-opener.

Next time people say something like "Homosexuality does not occure in nature, it is merely a lifestyle choice" you can point them to this book.

Backed by years of reasearch it points to numerous examples including ones as dramatic as Male Swans pairing for life AND adopting chicks to raise. Other interesting subjects are homsexual pair-bonds among species that do NOT usually form pair bonds. However one of the most facinating aspects are how other researcers or scientists will explain away the behavior, misreport it or even leave it out altogether. A Must for anybodys collection.